Dragons aiming to hunt down Scarlets in URC - Flanagan

The Rodney Parade club recorded their third URC win of the campaign, and first against a non-Welsh side, by beating the Italians 20-13 in Newport on Good Friday.

It was more nervy than it should have been after tries by centre Aneurin Owen, wing Jared Rosser and hooker Elliot Dee but the Dragons secured the spoils.

They are now ahead of Zebre on wins and are a point behind the Scarlets, who were humiliated 45-3 by Glasgow in Llanelli on Saturday night.

The Dragons went above the Sharks on Friday but the South Africans responded with a home win against Edinburgh to earn a three-point lead.

Flanagan was thrilled to get the four points after falling short earlier in the campaign.

“The resilience pleased me the most. Think back to Edinburgh here, Cardiff here, and we couldn’t get over the line,” said Flanagan.

“We got over the line this time and that should breed confidence now. We are frustrated they got a bonus point, but we have a lot of games left yet and there is a bigger picture for us.

“We wanted to climb off the bottom and target some Welsh clubs above us. To do that we need to get more wins.”

The Dragons’ failure to qualify in the European Challenge Cup means that they now have a break before travelling to Treviso to face Benetton on Saturday, April 20.

They then host Connacht and the Stormers before two derbies to finish the campaign, at the Ospreys in Swansea and versus the Scarlets in Cardiff.

JOY: Aneurin Owen, left, and Jared Rosser both scored for the Dragons against Zebre (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

Flanagan hopes that the relief of getting a first URC win since New Year’s Day can help them finish with a flourish.

“You feel better after a win but there were elements of that game that have been quite contagious for us this year – we would win a lot more games if we didn’t give silly penalties away or dive in at rucks when we don’t need to,” said the head coach.

“We looked in full control apart from that. It’s a step forward, it’s four points on the board and we have a lot of games left in Wales.

“We can have a better killer touch, but that comes from winning games. You have confidence then to give that extra pass.

“You saw us in the left corner on 71 minutes when we throw a long ball over to Sean Lonsdale and get turned over. Good teams go around the corner, stay on top and force them to give away another penalty.

“To get over the line is a positive and we need to build on this. We have four games left in Wales and one away, and we need to put on a show for our fans.

“We are four from six at home, which is a big step forward for us, and we have two more here at Rodney Parade that we can be excited about.

“Our job is to make these players better, make this place harder to come to and that was a step forward.”

The Dragons will need to monitor locks Ben Carter and Matthew Screech after both went off for head injury assessments.

Carter went off after 50 minutes and didn’t come back on while Screech was replaced at the death.