'We didn’t have much of a solution in the whole game' - Ryan on Dragons defeat
Director of Dragons Rugby Dean Ryan admitted his side had been blown away at the contact area and that breakdown struggles had been the main reason for defeat by Edinburgh.On a freezing cold night at Rodney Parade, the Scottish side were fully deserving of a bonus-point win as they played some enterprising attacking rugby.Dragons stayed in the contest against all the odds and scored tries through Sam Davies and Jonah Holmes, but Edinburgh eventually pulled clear to win 30-14.Mike Blair’s side got off to a fast start and their backs ran riot, helped by quick ball at the breakdown as the Dragons back-row struggled to slow their opponents down.Ryan wasn’t helped by losing flanker Taine Basham – a breakout star for Wales this autumn – after just four minutes following his failure of a head injury assessment.“The first half was as clear as anything – we couldn’t control their speed of ball,” said Ryan.“We couldn’t get it under control and credit to them. We didn’t have much of a solution in the whole game. It put us out of a rhythm in that first 20 to 25 minutes and we couldn’t get a foothold.“It was the tempo they played with, but also the pressure around the breakdown and we couldn’t get any. When we were in possession in the second half, they could get a lot.“We can’t look anywhere else other than at that area. We need to challenge ourselves to be better in that area, but credit to them. They played at pace and had accuracy with it.”Ryan continued: “To lose the amount of ground and tries that were scored playing into the wind wasn’t acceptable. We have to find solutions in a game that is going against us.”Edinburgh dominated the first 20 minutes. Their Argentina stars Emiliano Boffelli and Ramiro Moyano both scored in that time as Dragons didn’t help themselves with basic errors.But out of nowhere, Ryan’s men did hit back through Davies and Holmes with Davies kicking both conversions.
