Harri Keddie: Dragons ready for tough Edinburgh URC clash

Dean Ryan’s men return to action when they host Edinburgh in Newport (kick-off 5.15pm), the start of a key spell.

The Dragons travel to Glasgow on Friday then kick off the European Challenge Cup against Perpignan (away) and Lyon (home) before the festive derbies.

They will hope to get off to a flying start against Scottish opposition after enduring four defeats out of five in the URC.

The Dragons enjoyed a stunning win at Connacht but lost from a strong position against the Ospreys, fell agonisingly short against Leinster, were overpowered by the Stormers and had to settle for a pair of bonus points against 14-man Cardiff.

“We were frustrated not to get a few more wins in the first block,” said back rower Keddie. “When we look back on the results there were definitely more points in those games for us.

“We have spoken as a group about what we need to be better at and there are certain areas where we need to be more clinical.

“We’ve talked about closing out the tight games. We got in a lot of positions in the first four or five weeks of the season where we competitive and in all the games.

“The last five or ten minutes is about how we change our behaviours to make sure we close out tight games and turn losing bonus points into wins.”

Keddie joins forces with Wales’ autumn star Taine Basham and talisman Ollie Griffiths in the back row against an Edinburgh side who started life under new boss Mike Blair strongly.

They head to Newport with a record of played five, won three, drawn one, lost one.

“They are playing a lot more expansive rugby than they have done typically over the last few years,” said Keddie.

“But they have still got a good foundation, with their set piece and they are still a good scrummaging and mauling team, and very accurate at getting out of their own half.

“They have added layers to it and more of an attacking game from deeper in their own half.”