Filo Tiatia has asked for better discipline from his players when they meet Edinburgh at The Hive Stadium after watching them slip to defeat against Ulster last time out on the back of 14 penalties. The Scottish side will come into the game all tooled up with international wings Duhan van der Merwe and D’Arcy […]
Filo Tiatia has asked for better discipline from his players when they meet Edinburgh at The Hive Stadium after watching them slip to defeat against Ulster last time out on the back of 14 penalties.
The Scottish side will come into the game all tooled up with international wings Duhan van der Merwe and D’Arcy Graham in their back line and Pierre Schoeman, Grant Gilchrist and Jamie Ritchie all starting up front.
Last weekend’s 21-18 defeat in Treviso against Benetton Rugby saw Edinburgh fall out of the top eight and they need a win to get back into contention for a play-off place. For the Dragons it will be a familiar story of chasing their first win in the BKT United Rugby Championship since the first round of the season against the Ospreys.
To be in with a chance of doing that Tiatia knows his team needs to be squeaky clean at The Hive and must cut down on the number of penalties they concede.
“It will be a heck of a challenge up there. We need to start well and keep applying pressure,” said head coach Tiatia.
“Edinburgh like to play fast and to play up tempo at home and they have a good set piece. It’s going to be a heck of a challenge in Scotland.
“We need to start well and keep building around how we apply pressure from minute one. We showed that against Ulster, where we managed to do that with our pressure plan to get the ball back from kick-off.
“I know Edinburgh will be waiting for some of the things we are trying to accomplish, but we must stay in moments and not allow teams into our 22. There is a focus around tidying up our indiscipline and that gives us a great opportunity to put Edinburgh under pressure.
“We’ve got to be more disciplined in not giving penalties away. We are hurting each other with ill-discipline and allowing teams back into areas that we are trying to protect.
“Like any team, we can beat any other on the day, but it is really the moments we create together and apply pressure that is the difference. There are parts of our game where we are our worst enemy, so we have got to keep working on the little things.
“We have a lot of young guys who are slowly maturing and learning at this level, which is a positive thing, but we must take it day by day and focus on our preparation.”
Wing Jared Rosser is set for his 100th appearance when he comes off the bench, while Argentine prop Rodrigo Martinez returns at loosehead. Tonga international Paula Latu also gets a first start for the club at tighthead.