Kingsley Jones has insisted his Newport Gwent Dragons team are making progress, despite just one victory in their opening six matches in the Guinness Pro12.
The Dragons go into the break for European rugby with little to suggest they will not be the worst of the four regions again this season.
Their latest defeat – a 31-27 loss at the Scarlets on Saturday night – earned them two losing bonus points and familiar pats on the back for their enterprise.
But Jones believes there are signs of improvement despite their occupancy of their regular position in the table, just above the two Italian sides at the bottom.
“I have to be positive and proud of the way the team is coming on,” said Jones.
“Some of the rugby we played was exceptional. But we have small details to work on because we are allowing other teams easy tries.
“I am really proud of the team and the spirit and belief they showed.
“It is a given to put your body on the line, but we showed real belief to come away with two bonus points. It’s not what we wanted, but we let ourselves down with their first try early in the game.”
The statistics make damning reading for the Dragons, though, as the defeat followed a well-trodden path. It is now 18 months since the Dragons last won an away match in the Pro12.
Their record against the Scarlets in regional rugby shows just five victories in 27 matches.
Even Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac was unable to shower his team with much praise without highlighting the consistent weakness of the opposition.
“We’ve had three wins in a row, but against sides that haven’t been performing that well so we’ve just got to be realistic as to where we’re at this stage of the season and keep building,” said Pivac.
“We talked about not under-estimating the Dragons because they’ve got a lot of talented young players and we knew they’d come here and it’s a derby and they’d throw everything at it.
“In the end we were probably lucky to get away with a win.”
