Pre-season preparations intensify for the Men of Gwent with a training camp in the South of France, which concludes with a match against Top 14 side Montpellier on Friday 11th August, in Aveyron (kick-off 8pm).
The match is part of the annual Vaquerin Challenge tournament and sees the two sides revisit their European Rugby Challenge Cup 2016 semi-final meeting – which put eventual champions Montpellier through to the final after a close-fought 22-12 victory.
The Dragons will be the first Welsh side to take part in the annual summer tournament, previously and join good company with Leicester Tigers, Glasgow Warriors and a Fiji select side all counting among previous winners since its inception in the early 90s.
Commenting on his first pre-season at the helm, in which he will also take Dragons training sessions to clubs throughout the Welsh region, new head coach Bernard Jackman said:
“It’s a huge challenge for us and a very tough start against Montpellier, especially as they will be only a week out from the start of the Top14.
“They have recruited incredibly well over the past couple of years, as well as bringing in a new coach in Vern Cotter and they will be looking to get the season off to a flying start.
“We will take a large squad to France for the week to benefit from the camp, but we will send a group of around 14 back on the Friday morning to meet up with some players who remained in Gwent, to play Northampton on the Saturday. This is a great opportunity for us to have a look at more players than we normally would in a full weekend of rugby.”
Jackman continued: “It will be good for us and we will test ourselves. The results won’t be a massively important, it’s about pre-season and combinations and players getting an opportunity to put their hand up to make their first competitive start of the season, when the Guinness PRO12 kicks off.
“I am looking forward to it, but to be honest we have plenty of hard work to do over the next four weeks, before we even start thinking about a game.”
Dragons Head of Elite Performance & Rugby Operations Huw Bevan said: “It is a fantastic opportunity to go and play in the Vaquerin Challenge.
“Going away as a group is something that the Dragons haven’t done during pre-season for a while, we can get some good training done and also do some development work in terms of our team culture, leadership and behaviour.
“Culminating in a match against Montpellier which should be a strong test for the new group.”
After facing Montpellier the Dragons will then travel to Franklins Gardens to take on Aviva Premiership side Northampton Saints the following day, on Saturday 12th August.
“These back-to-back matches will really challenge the squad and obviously put us under a certain amount of pressure logistically, but we will be facing many challenges in the season ahead and we want to get to a position where we are reacting well to those pressures,” added Jackman.
The final match of the pre-season schedule takes place at Sandy Park, where the Dragons face Aviva Premiership champions Exeter Chiefs on Saturday 19th August.
Pre-Season Schedule
Friday 11th August: Montpellier v Dragons, Vaquerin Challenge, Aveyron
Saturday 12th August: Northampton Saints v Dragons, Franklin Gardens
Saturday 19th August: Exeter Chiefs v Dragons, Sandy Park
