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Beware boosted Dragons – Jones

Beware boosted Dragons – Jones

Newport Gwent Dragons Director of Rugby Lyn Jones is hoping their thrilling 51-35 LV=Cup victory over Ospreys will give them the boost they need to kickstart their season.

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The Rodney Parade region romped to a 48-0 lead at the Brewery Field before the hosts pulled back five second-half tries to earn a losing bonus-point.

Munster travel to Newport this week head of the Guinness PRO12’s return on Friday night. The Dragons have won just one of seven league fixtures and only the two Italian clubs are beneath them in the table.

But the Dragons warmed up for the fixture by ending a three-game losing streak and Jones reckons they are in good shape heading into the clash.

He said: “This had to be a dress rehearsal for Munster at home. Our tactics paid dividends, we were very accurate in the first half and our error count was extremely low.

“It was a really good performance and we will be a little bit more confident for Munster. We pulled together, played as units and as a team and we were very effective in what we did.

“It’s good to have Tyler Morgan, Ashley Smith, Ross Wardle and Cory Hill back from injury and it’s no accident that when you get your best players back you play better as a team.”

Munster sit six places ahead of the Dragons with 23 points from their seven league outings. And Jones is under no illusions about what they will be coming up against.

He said: “On Friday we will have few chances and they will be sterner opposition, so we will just have to fight harder because we will get rewarded less.

“Munster have a very strong side, as we saw at Cardiff Arms Park two weeks ago (when they won 28-24), and they will be very competitive.

“Teams like Munster, the Ospreys, Leinster and Glasgow understand how the Celtic League fixture list draws out over a year and prepare well in advance with a good backbone of overseas players to carry them through these periods.”

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