Boss Dean Ryan insists the trip to South Africa was a “powerful” one for Dragons, as the region prepares for Saturday’s clash with Gloucester having conceded more than 100 points on tour.

The Men of Gwent host the Gallagher Premiership outfit at Rodney Parade this weekend after losing 51-3 to Cell C Sharks last Friday and 55-20 to Vodacom Bulls six days earlier.

Ryan and his squad will be hoping for better luck against the Cherry and Whites in the European Challenge Cup following four successive United Rugby Championship defeats.

Reflecting on their time in South Africa, Ryan said: “It has been a powerful two weeks for us as a region with players and staff coming together.

“We’ve been able to build relationships and people who have sat outside the squad, therefore the focus in the week hasn’t always been on them, have come alive in these environments.

“We’ve been under huge pressure in games, but we’ve talked a lot about that and how we want to represent ourselves when we know that’s the situation.

“We’ve got players integrating back in (from Wales) and that’s not as easy as them just dropping in.

“We’ve now got good competition in the back row, competition in the front row too, as people come back in and raise the bar. I’m looking forward to seeing how they react to that.

“Being here has allowed us to create a lot of good behaviours, in terms of how we talk about the game and how we share information. That’s been powerful when we spend so much time together.”

On travelling to South Africa, he added: “I was fortunate to tour here a few times, both for club and country, and how keen they are to see us here has been humbling.

“It is a bit of a lull, though, because what is coming in the games is what you would expect from South Africa.

“South Africa has been a strong addition to the URC. You can’t play the same way that you do in the northern hemisphere and it’s a big rugby experience.”

He continued: “They are enormous franchises over in South Africa. We trained at a school earlier in the week with 1,500 boys that has 10 teams in each year.

“They have the Currie Cup as an A League. The Bulls played Morne Steyn in that competition five days before putting him on the bench against us.

“The structures here, the resources that are coming through, are impressive and you get a real feel for it being in the country, with big stadiums and all the South African internationals back in selection.

“It’s a challenge to the rest of us, certainly for us at the Dragons and within Wales, about how we answer this challenge and how we are competitive in the URC going forward.

“It’s an old-fashioned rugby challenge coming to South Africa which I think is vital to experience. As a rugby challenge, I think it’s huge.”