Jackman: Daunting matches left us thin
NEW Dragons coach Bernard Jackman admitted the region spread themselves too thin as Gavin Henson’s debut ended with a 40-15 defeat against French giants Montpellier in Aveyron on Friday night.
Some 17 hours after the final whistle, a split Dragons squad were kicking off against Aviva Premiership big guns Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens and the punishing week-long training camp in France took its toll on the region, now under the WRU control, as they shipped 11 tries in a 71-21 thumping.
Jackman expressed his fears before the weekend about splitting his squad for two highprofile games, but with clashes against Aviva Premiership champions Exeter Chiefs and Glasgow Warriors alongside a training match with Bath, such a daunting pre-season could set the region up perfectly for their Guinness PRO14 opener with Leinster at Rodney Parade on September 2.
The former Leinster hooker told the South Wales Argus: “We had a great week (in France) but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that you wouldn’t start your pre-season with Montpellier on a Friday night in France and Northampton away on the Saturday.
“That’s what we inherited and we did our best to manage it. Thankfully we got through both games without any injuries, which is pretty much a miracle because we were up against two big, powerful, physical sides.
“We are not kidding ourselves — we are playing Montpellier away, Northampton away, Exeter away and Glasgow in Ebbw Vale, while we are having an opposed training session with Bath on Tuesday.
“Montpellier was a great opportunity to get some cohesion in the group, just to spend some time together and get to know the players. When you are in Ystrad Mynach it is full-on but players go home in the afternoon, so it gave the opportunity for a lot of meetings and one-on-ones. Montpellier, who start their Top 14 a week earlier than PRO14, were just a bit more match fit and have a super squad.
“It was very different to Northampton, where we got done a bit for speed and cohesion. Montpellier we got done for pure power and size — the average weight of their forwards was 134kg, which is the biggest pack I’ve seen. They were able to put the squeeze on us up front and punish our errors but we will benefit from that.”