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Hibbard's 'shock' about the new season already starting
By Josh Raisey
With a week remaining in France’s Top 14 season in the northern hemisphere, it is hard to believe that the Dragons’ season ended six weeks ago.
In fact, with Toulouse and Clermont still set to play the French final next weekend, the Welsh outfit have already started pre-season training in the hope of enjoying an improved season under new boss Dean Ryan.
The reason for Dragons' early start is because they failed yet again to make the play-offs for the Guinness PRO14 this season, but it nonetheless seems strange that one team is looking ahead to the next season.
Former British and Irish Lions hooker Richard Hibbard summed up this shock perfectly on Twitter, as he too may feel like the summer in Newport has not been long enough.
The 38-cap Wales hooker is entering his second season with the Dragons, and is perhaps not looking forward to the coming weeks of hard toil on the training pitch.
Social media is currently littered with players on holiday during their break, and it seems alarming that the new season is starting for some.
Edinburgh, another side that failed to reach the play-offs, have also begun their pre-season training. In contrast, their Scottish rivals Glasgow will have to wait a few more weeks after reaching the PRO14 final which they lost to Leinster on May 25.
With the arrival at Rodney Parade of Sam Davies at fly-half from Ospreys and Ryan as the new director of rugby, it is unsurprising that the Dragons want to kick on with the 2019/20 season as soon as possible.
The Newport side finished last season with the third fewest points in the PRO14 after just five wins in 21 outings, but they will hope their early start can help them produce a season where they are no longer Welsh rugby’s underachieving region.
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Latest Comments
I think the majority of their yellow cards were for cynical infringements instead of repeated infringements.
Go to commentsSpeed of game and stoppages in play remain a problem SK. Set piece oriented teams generally want a lower ball in play time, and they have various strategies to try and get it - legal and illegal!
They want to maximize their power in short bursts, then recover for the next effort. Teams like Bristol are the opposite. They want high ball in play to keep the oppo moving, they want quicker resolution at set pieces, and if anyone is to kick the ball out, they want it to be the other team.
The way rugby is there will always be a place for set piece based teams, but progression in the game is associated far more with the Black Ferns/Bristol style.
The scrum is a crucible. We have still not solved the problem of scrums ending in FKs and penalties, sometimes with yellow cards attached. A penalty ought not to be the aim of a scrum, a dominant SP should lead to greater attacking opportunity as long as the offence is not dangerous but technical in nature.
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