HOOKER Rhys Buckley admits the Newport Gwent Dragons owe their fans a performance after last week’s drubbing in Edinburgh, writes Andrew Penman.

Buckley is full of praise for the supporters who made the long journey to Murrayfield only to see their side soundly beaten 45-16 in the European Rugby Challenge Cup semi-final.

And he says the players know they must give them more to shout about in tomorrow’s Judgement Day derby clash with the Scarlets.

“It was a horrendous journey home, especially for all the fans who travelled up there,” said the 25-year-old from Caerphilly.

“We were planning on having a few beers with them but after that you just want to go home and cry.

“We owe them one basically; they travelled all the way up there and we didn’t perform.”

For Buckley tomorrow’s match will be his first appearance at the national stadium and he says it is the ideal opportunity for the squad to bounce back.

“It’s a big occasion and a game that everyone wants to be involved in,” he said.

“I haven’t played there and most of us haven’t, apart from Toby and Hallam. It’ll be a great day and my family will be there.

“And obviously, after last weekend, everyone wants to make amends after getting annihilated in pretty much every aspect of the game.

“This is a big stage again to show everyone what we know we can do and what we know we didn’t do last week. We believe in what we can do.”

Not that Buckley is expecting the Scarlets to be any easier to beat than a rampant Edinburgh as they chase a top-six finish in the Guinness Pro12.

“It’s not an easy game,” he added. “They’ve obviously seen what Edinburgh did to our set-piece last week and they’ll be gunning for us.

“We need to get out of the blocks quickly and beat them.”