A PRE-MATCH rallying cry is unlikely to include a captain bellowing about the need to earn back the respect of the opposition – 'just make it competitive, lads' – but that's the situation facing Newport Gwent Dragons this weekend.

It may sound a tad defeatist but 2013/14 is about the region getting some pride back after the horrors of 2012/13.

The Dragons were awful last season and by this time last year they were already all but out of contention for the knockout stages of Europe and the Amlin Challenge Cup.

The RaboDirect Pro12 was just as bleak and the encounters with Glasgow top the list of criminal performances.

When the Dragons were first formed they used to thrive against the men from the banks of the River Clyde.

They went on a seven-match winning streak against the Glaswegians between October 2003 and March 2008 but the tables have been turned.

It is over three years since the Dragons have enjoyed a victory over Glasgow and 2012/13 was especially galling.

The first meeting between the sides at Scotstoun Stadium was bad enough, with the hosts easing to a 37-6 win and profiting from some comical defending, fly-half/centre Lewis Robling kicking fresh air to allow Peter Murchie to cross and full-back Dan Evans misreading a kick through to allow it to roll onto the post and into the grateful mitts of Tommy Seymour.

But that was showing the defensive steel of Dan Lydiate in comparison to the return fixture at Rodney Parade.

Few will forget that grim, grim night with the humiliation shown live on television.

The visitors scored EIGHT tries in a 60-3 destruction job... and that was without their Scotland big guns.

It was actually the first time that Glasgow have done the league double over the Dragons.

The clubs have been pretty evenly matched over the years – the Dragons have 12 wins, Glasgow have 11 and there have been three draws – but have gone in different directions recently.

They play in a super stadium with excellent training facilities and have got used to challenging at the head of the table thanks to a mixture of good Scottish players and excellent imports.

The Rodney Parade region has shown signs of progress under Lyn Jones but 13 of their 14 points have been won on their own turf.

Maybe it is defeatist but heading back south from second-placed Glasgow with a bonus point would be cause for celebration tomorrow evening.

However, the bare minimum is for the Dragons to show some steel against opponents that won at a canter twice last season.

At least give them a bloody nose this time.

HALLAM Amos will inspire a generation when he runs out on the dodgy Millennium Stadium turf tomorrow evening.

The teenager makes his Wales debut against Tonga and will give encouragement to a raft of his fellow Dragons academy prospects.

The conveyor belt churned out five teenage debutants in the LV= Cup and lock Joe Davies, winger Ashton Hewitt, centre Tyler Morgan and flankers Scott Matthews and James Benjamin all impressed.

Amos and centre Jack Dixon (who surely would have been capped against Argentina were it not for injury) are already firm fixtures in the first team while hooker Elliot Dee impressed when thrust into the fray in the Amlin Challenge Cup earlier this season.

The talent is finally coming through with the senior academy backed up by the junior academies at Coleg Gwent and Newport High School.

Hopefully the Dragons will soon have the welcome problem of international call-ups leaving them low on numbers in the autumn and Six Nations period.