Bernard Jackman believes he’s turning the tanker around at the Dragons after years of steaming in the wrong direction.
The region’s head coach has claimed his squad were “mismanaged” in recent seasons, but that good times lay ahead following their first victory since the summer Welsh Rugby Union takeover.
Jackman saw his team record their first league victory since January when they beat Connacht 21-8 at Rodney Parade on Friday night.
The former Ireland, Leinster and Connacht hooker told Irish broadcaster RTE, “The players have been under-funded, under-resourced, mismanaged for three or four years and I feel sorry for them.
“That’s why I didn’t want to make any recruitment. These guys need a chance to work in a better environment… and the union behind the Dragons has given us better medical, better strength and conditioning, better travel. Now it’s up to the players to step to the challenge.
“Connacht were missing a few front-line players so we haven’t won a World Cup or anything, but we haven’t won a league game since January.
“In the two performances there’s been promising moments but there hasn’t been anything really the fans can get behind, whereas against Connacht there was plenty in that first half.”
Tries from Hallam Amos and Elliot Dee and three penalties and a conversion from Gavin Henson did the damage for the Dragons.
They celebrated the success with gusto afterwards, and Jackman is hoping it’s a catalyst for the rest of the campaign.
“Connacht are a team who asked big questions of us. It’s really pleasing,” he added.
“It was a step forward. It’s about winning little battles over the course of the season and reinforcing those positive moments.
“That’s the best performance we’ve had. We conceded more than 40 points in every game pre-season. Our defence coach only arrived three weeks ago.
“We’re changing our defensive system. It was the best defensive performance we’ve had and that’s really pleasing because we won’t come up against many teams who test us in the way Connacht did.”
