The Men of Gwent turned the form table on it’s head to overcome Stade Francais 38-22 at Stade Jean Bounin in their new-look Challenge Cup debut.
But the former Wales full-back has warned his team-mates that their round one win will mean nothing if they are to slip up against the Aviva Premiership strugglers at Rodney Parade on Saturday.
He said: “It was all down to heart and now we have to back it up against Newcastle back at Rodney Parade to make sure it’s a turning point.
“Winning away at Stade and then losing against Newcastle at home would be unacceptable. It’s been six or seven weeks of being under pressure and against Stade it finally clicked.
“I never won there with Clermont and nights like that don’t happen very often. The start of the season has been difficult and nobody gave us a hope in hell of getting anything in Paris but we put in a big performance.”
The Dragons have suffered in the Guinness PRO12 so far this season, with their only victory coming against bottom-of-the-table Treviso. But Byrne reckons their Parisian triumph has shown that the Gwent region have a rosy future.
He said: “I am really pleased for the team and the coaching staff because we’ve come under a lot of pressure, and rightly so because the performances haven’t been as good as we know they can be.
“We turned it around and the spirit shone through. We have been training hard and things hadn’t been coming off for us, but they did against Stade.
“I am so pleased for the boys and this can turn things around for us, not just in this competition but in the Pro12 as well.”
