Heartbreaking European Exit

Dragons RFC are determined to use their heartbreaking European exit as fuel for the final weeks of the season and beyond.

The Welsh outfit pushed French Top 14 high flyers Montpellier all the way in the EPCR Challenge Cup semi-final at the Septeo Stadium before ultimately going down to a 18-12 defeat.

It was another hugely brave effort on the road on the back of successive away victories against Stade Francais and Zebre Parma (twice).

Now they will look to end a much improved campaign on a positive note as they complete their URC schedule with games against Edinburgh Rugby (home) and the Scarlets (away).

Reflecting on the performance in Montpellier, co-captain Angus O’Brien: “It was an unbelievable effort from the boys.

“Ultimately, we are gutted we didn’t quite get the result. But to go out there and have opportunities to win the game is testament to where we’ve come as a group this season. We’ve got to use that as fuel now to really kick on from here.”

Fellow co-captain Ben Carter said: “We showed a lot of fight and put ourselves in a position to win that game, so we were really disappointed with how it ended.

“We can be proud of the work-rate, physicality, effort, but we made too many mistakes. That’s what’s really frustrating. We are doing a lot of the hard work and then just letting things slip away.”

Echoing these comments, head coach Filo Tiatia said: “There was a lot of disappointment with the outcome. It was a could of, should of sort of game. We left a lot of points out on the field.”

But, looking ahead, the former All Black insists there is still much to aim for over the next couple of weeks.

“We’ve got our last home game and a lot of milestones to celebrate,” he said, turning to Saturday’s Rodney Parade meeting with Edinburgh.

“We’ve got some people that won’t be here next season, so we want to put a show on.

“We’ve got the Scarlets away after that and that will be our season. We want to finish strong for the group and for our fans as well, so it’s important for us.”

Former Dragons head coach Bernard Jackman was full of praise for the display away to Montpellier, who sit third in the Top 14.

“It was an amazing performance, such resilience, such fight,” the ex-Ireland hooker said on Premier Sports.

“They can come out of there with their head up and their chest out. There was no lack of effort and when they had quality ball, they asked lots of questions of Montpellier.

“A performance like that, a cup run like they have had can be a springboard to significant change in terms of league position, in terms of optimism and in terms of building a project.”

On that subject, Dragons director David Buttress is already looking forward to next season with real enthusiasm on the back of the strides the team has taken this term.

“I am so proud of all the players, coaches and the incredible support. We are a lucky club,” he said.

“Let’s build this into the rugby club Gwent deserves and let’s be greedy and do it all again next year!”

Adding his thoughts on the Montpellier match, which featured two tries from centre Aneurin Owen, chief executive Rhys Blumberg said: “The boys gave it everything and the support was unreal, so thank you to everyone who travelled over to support the team.”