ones will meet his old Pontyridd coach Lynn Howells, who takes charge of the assembled side, for the Challenge Cup pool three clash. And Jones knows his Dragons are not in for an easy ride after the Romanians pushed Stade Francais all the way in their eventual 13-9 defeat.
He said: “I know Bucharest well from my time in Russia, they are a side with a good spirit and we are not going to underestimate them.
“They have been playing well in this competition and it’s away from home so it’s going to be tough, but we have also grown in this competition and will be looking to get a result. If you look at the history of Bucharest in this competition they have always pushed teams very close without being able to get the wins. They control the game well from outside half, with a strong kicking game that can be hard to play against.”
Pool three is finely poised after the Rodney Parade region failed to back-up their shock win over Satde Francais with defeat at home to Newcastle Falcons.
It means they trail Dean Richards’ men by three points in second-place heading into the crucial double-header weekend. Bucharest fell to a 49-13 defeat in round one to Newcastle but almost pulled off what would have been the shock of the year against Stade. And Wolves coach Howells wants his men to give the Dragons a frosty Romanian welcome.
He said: “The players know that this competition is providing them with an opportunity to play at a higher level and everything is building towards the World Cup.
“They are excited by the challenge. The Dragons have given themselves every opportunity of making it out of the group by beating Stade Francais but will need to be on their game up front, and Kingsley (Jones, head coach) will know that after coming here with Russia.”
