DAI Flanagan knows that only wins can show the progress made by the Dragons after they were condemned to another defeat by Benetton in the United Rugby Championship.
The Rodney Parade club have one game left in the first block of the URC when they travel to Connacht on Saturday (kick-off 7.35pm).
The Dragons have been competitive in four of five games, and even in their heavy loss at Leinster it was tight in the first half.
On Saturday they suffered a first pointless home fixture after being beaten 31-21 by Benetton, with the Italians leaving with a four-try bonus point thanks to their power game.
The Dragons won just three times in the URC last season and have missed the chance to get their campaign off to a flying start on home soil.
They stunned the Ospreys at the death on opening weekend but suffered a reverse of that against the Sharks, then lost narrowly to the Lions.
“For all the progress we want results,” said Flanagan. “We want to turn the corner by winning a lot more than last year and currently we haven’t.”
“Teams come here now and kick a lot more than we are previewing so we must find out why teams are playing that way and what they are seeing,” he continued.
“It was good to keep them at zero points for 30-plus minutes but two errors then gave them 10 points, and that was arguably the game after we lost by that amount.
“We watched them play the Sharks, a team with a fantastic scrum and lineout, and Benetton did a job on them. We knew that was coming.
“We had a game plan to try and ease that worry, but we didn’t execute it.”
The Dragons finish the first block on the plastic pitch in Galway with Wales number eight Aaron Wainwright in line for a return.
The dynamic back row forward has made a rapid recovery from a torn hamstring suffered in the first Test defeat to Australia at the start of July.
Wainwright, hooker James Benjamin and full-back Cai Evans all took part in the warm-up before the Benetton game and could come into contention for Connacht, who suffered a 33-12 home loss to Leinster.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel