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Dragons fans hope for revival under Ryan
By Josh Raisey
Former Gloucester head coach Dean Ryan was confirmed as the Dragons new director of rugby on Tuesday, leaving his post with the RFU.
The six-cap England international has been head of international player development for the past three years, but will now oversee matters with the struggling Welsh region.
The Dragons have just faced a turbulent season, finishing second from bottom in their PRO14 conference. Head coach Bernard Jackman lost his job midway through the season and was replaced by interim head coach Ceri Jones. The arrival of Ryan may open the door for a new head coach, but nothing has been confirmed as the club seek some stability.
The Welsh regions have struggled on the whole this season, with none making the Champions Cup quarter-finals, and none making the PRO14 play-offs. However, out of all four regions, the Dragons have been struggling the most.
Ryan is a character with a lot of experience that could oversee a change with the Dragons. That is what many fans are hoping on Twitter, with some new signings seeming to be a priority. This is what the Dragons fans have said:
Ryan has had spells coaching Bristol, Gloucester and Worcester, with the most success coming with the Cherry and Whites over a decade ago. He turned Gloucester into one of the forces in English rugby, and perhaps did not earn the sufficient silverware that he deserved.
While his time with Worcester afterwards was not as successful, he would have nonetheless built a lot of experience which may be prove to be invaluable at Rodney Parade. He has a job on his hands, but it is something that he must be relishing to take him out of a position with the RFU.
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Latest Comments
I think we need to get innovative with the new laws.
Now red cards are only 20 minutes, Razor should send Finau on a head hunting mission to hospitalise their 10 with a shoulder to the chops.
Give the conspiracy theorists a win.
Go to commentsEngland played well enough to win but couldnt score when they needed to and couldnt defend a couple of X-Factor moments from Telea which was ultimately the difference. They needed to hold the ball more and make the AB's make more tackles. Territorially they were good for the first 60. Defending their lead and playing pragmatic rugby in the last 20 was silly. The AB's always had the potential to come back. England still have a long way to go, definite progress would have been shown had they won but it seems they are still stuck where they were shortly after the six nations and their tour to NZ
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