Defence coach pays the price at Dragons

THE Dragons have sacked defence coach Hendre Marnitz after a disappointing start to the season.

Former Blue Bulls boss Marnitz joined the region along with head coach Bernard Jackman last summer but has been shown the door as they sit bottom of the Guinness PRO14’s Conference B.

While the region are conceding marginally less tries per game on average, they are still letting in over four tries per game this term - 33 scores in eight encounters despite having a summer to improve their playing squad.

And, though they’ve been put under more duress than any other team in the league, they’ve missed the most tackles.

With just two wins from eight so far in the PRO14, something had to give and it’s the South African who has left as fans grow tired of what’s being served up at Rodney Parade.

“It was a difficult decision to make but we have to make hard decisions around the Dragons to try and make the team better,” Jackman told WalesOnline.

“This season, we haven’t seen the improvement in the defence that we would have liked and we feel that we had to make the decision to help the team win.

“It’s just part and parcel of pro sport and I just have to make sure that I make it better now.”

With Marnitz gone, head coach Jackman, who started as a defence coach in Grenoble, will be assuming his duties on the defensive side of the ball for the rest of the season at least.

“I’m going to take responsibility for it. I haven’t been hands on really, I’ve been more overseeing.

“There’s been a lot of stuff happening in terms of restructuring the coaching staff, the back room staff and obviously recruitment and retention was a big thing last year.

“But I think we can fix some of our issues quite quickly and build a defence we can be proud of. I’m excited by it.

“I wish it hadn’t unfolded this way but now it’s my responsibility.

“We want to be a team that can score tries through our defence.

“A lot of people say that we need to stop the soft tries and that’s a given, we need to be a team that go out and hunt down opportunities through our defence.”

Meanwhile Dragons hit the regional road again tonight (KO 7.35pm) when they face Rugby World Cup 2019 bound Russia at Bedwas RFC.

Tickets are available from the Rodney Parade ticket office with season members able to enjoy a a ticket discount for this match with adult entry priced at £10 in advance, £15 on the day. A valid season ticket will be required.