In the last of the Guinness Pro 14 regional spotlights, we focus on the Dragons. Geraint Powell believes the newly-named, newly-branded, newly-owned team can stir some excitement, although patience may need to be a virtue.

 

Having done situation reports at the Ospreys (https://www.dai-sport.com/ospreys-ready-fly-back-shadows/), the Scarlets (https://www.dai-sport.com/scarlets-bloodline-williams-halfpenny-will-keep-pumping-top-pro14/) and the Cardiff Blues (https://www.dai-sport.com/cardiff-blues-bid-make-smaller-sums-add-long-awaited-success/), and looked ahead to the new season, it is time to examine the Dragons.

Their falling last to be analysed is simply in keeping with the tradition of the last miserable decade, and is in no way reflective of this summer.  All changed forever in Gwent regional rugby in May and the WRU-owned Dragons have pretty much monopolised the airwaves ever since.

Newly-appointed head coach Bernard Jackman, as well as having a pedigree as a hard-nosed, no-nonsense coaching operator, has shown himself to be an astute social media operator, too.  He arrived from Grenoble, but he grew up in the representative provincial model of Ireland.

The notion that Cork Constitution RFC could run a Munster provincial player development pathway for Munster simply would not do elsewhere in the province, such as in Limerick.  It would be considered arrant nonsense.

The previous branding problems have seen a de-toxifying process and even to the extent that Newport RFC fans should no longer view the region as a diluted threat to their own club heritage.

Newport RFC is Newport RFC and the Dragons are the wider representative regional team for all of Gwent which, in case you did not realise, very much includes the city of Newport.  No ambiguities, no “mish mash”.  Never the twain shall meet.

The process of raising that low lying affinity cap across much of the region has begun, to attract some new fans now but also in preparedness to attract many others upon future playing success and successful convincing that a more inclusive regional identity is both sincere and permanent.

The vibe is good, the foundations are being laid, the culture and environment being created for players and fans alike, but this is a three year project (some might argue salvage job) and it is critically important to manage expectations and to keep aspirations realistic.

Rome was not built in a day.

Jackman has inherited a struggling squad that was already wafer thin and has only been reinforced, prior to his arrival, by veterans in ex-British and Irish Lion Gavin Henson and ex-Springbok Zane Kirchner.

With some young players perhaps not quite ready for regional rugby, others squad players perhaps in need of further good coaching work, and no doubt a few others simply not good enough, the Dragons may well be struggling once injuries strike and during the Regulation Nine Test window to put out a 23-man squad capable of sustaining a performance in the last 20 minutes.

They certainly struggled after 50-60 minutes in some pre-season friendlies, the bench noticeably weakening rather than strengthening the team in the absence of the best 23 players all in the match day squads selected.

It will take months for new defence coach Hendre Marnitz, from the “Blou Bulle” or Blue Bulls rugby province of South Africa, or the Northern Transvaal as my father would still call it, to properly instil a new defensive system.  It will take even longer for Jackman to set-up his full attack systems.

Many may grumble in Wales about the lack of instinctive play and “scanning” from the current generation of professional players when structure breaks down and the game opens up. It is, arguably, a failure in both basic skills and the ability of players to react better for themselves in the event of breakdown, but the modern professional game is now mostly good coaching and good structures.

That was something the Irish provinces learnt far quicker than the nominally independent Welsh regions.

The front five depth at the Dragons is painfully thin, as we have already seen with Brok Harris switching to the loose-head side with Sam Hobbs injured for the opening months of the season.  The Dragons will be looking for breakthrough seasons from Elliot Dee and Leon Brown in particular, for them to rise to the challenge.

The situation is slightly better at lock, where there is greater depth, but the Dragons will still be hoping for big seasons from new skipper Cory Hill and (after a quiet last season by his own high standards) Rynard Landman.  Matthew Screech will certainly be hoping to break-up that pairing.

Back row attention will no doubt be focussed on the further development of Ollie Griffiths and Harrison Keddie, and the contribution of former skipper Lewis Evans.

The new expensive hybrid Desso pitch at Rodney Parade should favour a more expansive game and the young guns across the three-quarters, including the dual centrally contracted pair of Hallam Amos and Tyler Morgan.  Competition at centre looks healthy, even if Henson is preferred in the outside-half playmaker role.  Ashton Hewitt returns from his concussion issues.

A more expansive game plan and much improved playing surface, instead of the former kick-chase tactics in the mud, should equally reinvigorate fringe-sniping South African scrum-half Sarel Pretorius (like Landman, once of the Cheetahs, who now join the Pro14 from South Africa).

The media spotlight will no doubt be on the former poster boy of Welsh rugby, the great unfulfilled talent that is Henson.  With his on-field rugby brain, and with his siege gun boot, the Dragons are likely to be far more competitive with him in their ranks.

The critical question, looking at his recent injury record, will be whether the Dragons can get a reasonably uninterrupted full season out of him?

The Dragons have been drawn in the arguably weaker Conference B of the Pro14, but are unlikely to seriously trouble the Scarlets or Leinster.  Nor Ulster, for that matter, who have seen the talismanic Ruan Pienaar depart under IRFU orders and Arno Botha fail to arrive, and have other players unavailable pending a criminal trial.

The Southern Kings will be an unknown quantity and there is an Edinburgh who will likely be increasingly difficult to break down under former Leicester coach Richard Cockerill.  Treviso must be beaten at home, it goes without saying.

The European Challenge Cup sees the Dragons in the same pool as Bordeaux Bègles, Newcastle and (once again) Enisei-STM of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia.  The Dragons will start with two matches away from Wales in October against Newcastle and Enisei, and the later priority given to this competition will probably heavily depend upon those two initial results.

What is certain is that the Dragons have now bottomed out and are on a fresh journey.  It might be branded evolution, but in reality it is part evolution and part revolution.

Mistakes will be made and indeed several off-field mistakes well away from playing matters have already been made – the perennial innate Welsh rugby curse of conservatism and the inability to make a completely clean break from the past. There has also been the failure to provide distinct products in distinct markets (uncompromised by brand overlap for consumers wanting to shop in both markets).

But the direction of travel is positive and upwards.  Playing success will take time, and breaking down regional fan alienation and indifference will take time.

Expectations have to be both realistic and well managed by the region, but the region equally has to be held to account and any lame excuses rebutted.

Better structures (on and off the field) and improved performance will take time. The same goes for squad strengthening, once the new coach is certain of his own requirements, but giving 100% for the badge and the region starts from day one against a powerful Leinster on Saturday afternoon.

There is an unfortunate home kick-off time, on the opening Saturday afternoon of the Gwent club rugby season and a few hours ahead of the big football international in Cardiff.

In general terms it is unwelcome, and specifically in relation to the regional club engagement that has been taking place over the summer.

No explanation has been provided by the Welsh regions as to why all four are at home this weekend, necessitating excessive competition with their 73 feeder clubs on the opening Saturday of the (non-Principality Premiership) club rugby season and also competing for attention with Gareth Bale and his mates.

The crowd for Connacht 13 days later may be a better guide to initial regional progress.

But one cannot help feeling that the earlier any rugby fan joins this regional rugby journey, ultimately the more satisfying and the more rewarding the end destination of a successful sustainable and viable representative rugby region will be.

The journey begins tomorrow, with Henson at outside-half, the young guns of Amos, Jack Dixon, Morgan and Hewitt across the back line and with the steadying talkative Kirchner at full back.