Forwards Coach Luke Narraway believes Dragons will relish the chance to play European rugby and use the Challenge Cup campaign as a reset.
The Men of Gwent face French top-flight side Oyonnax at Rodney Parade in Round One of the EPCR Challenge Cup on Saturday evening (kick-off 8pm).
Narraway is looking forward to seeing how the team responds after two defeats in South Africa and admits that knockout rugby must be the target.
“It’s a fresh competition and we look forward to it and want knockout rugby – we want to emulate that from previous seasons,” said Narraway.
“It starts at home. We did it the hard way last season and slipped up against Pau so we can’t repeat that. We’d love knockout rugby at home.
“We’re looking to get enthused by a new competition and it’s a chance to reset.
“Playing a French team will give us different questions to answer, but in many ways the themes from South Africa will be same.
“They thrive off turnover ball, so we need to attack in right areas, and we need to make sure we don’t open ourselves up and get too loose.
“We were disappointed by the performances in South Africa. We’ve got to learn from the experience, and we gave up too many opportunities,” he added.
“We know we can score tries and attacking wise we can cause issues. But we’re playing big men again and we need to stick to our plan and be accurate.
“When we are in one score games, we can’t be the first to crack. We need to be accurate with ball in hand because we are giving teams too much ammunition.
“Having 21 turnovers last week was not good enough. We need to keep hold of the ball and assert pressure.”
Dragons face an Oyonnax side that have returned to the Top 14 this season and Narraway acknowledges the challenges they will present.
“Oyonnax are a traditional French club. They have of French players and they’ve always had a good crowd and support,” he said.
“They are a close community, and they draw on that.
“Playing there they had a big pack and people behind the scrum who can light it up on turnover ball. “We need to control the game and limit their chances to hurt us.”
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It’s a fresh competition and we look forward to it and want knockout rugby – we want to emulate that from previous seasons...
