Speaking ahead of the match the Cardiff Blues Director of Rugby said, “Obviously it’s always a great occasion facing our closest rivals the Dragons especially over the Christmas holidays.”
“I’d like to congratulate them on the way they’ve started their season, they proved how good they are moving forward, and what a strong squad they have.”
“A lot of their younger players have stood up and done really well. They have a few players from their academy who have stepped up but what they’ve done as well is bring in players from other regions who maybe weren’t playing regularly for them. ”
“They’ve done well to bond a good team together with a lot of fringe players from other regions alongside their own academy players. Add that to a lot of experienced players as well and they’ve really done well to mould a good strong team together.”
“It’s important that we pick up as many points as we can over this run during the festive period. Every game that goes by where you don’t get the points the more pressure you put on yourselves.”
“Welsh derbies are always tense affairs and are almost a stand alone game in their own right. In the greater picture and the greater scheme of things it’s not about just getting the bragging rights, which is always nice, we’ve got to pick up the points.”