Benetton Rugby are arguably having the best campaign of all in the Guinness Pro14 this season. Last weekend they downed the Scarlets to record their seventh win in the league and putting pressure on Ulster for a play off spot.
"Benetton will come over with plenty of confidence behind them having won 7 of their fourteen matches so far and having put in some excellent displays in their European Rugby Champions Cup group," said Bernard.
"Traditionally it was more advantageous to play the Italian and Scottish teams during the international windows but we are now seeing the increased strength in depth in both countries playing resources and we know that we will have to put in our strongest performance of the season to get the win."
The Dragons fought back to claim a 15-point draw against league leaders Glasgow and whilst Jackman was disappointed to not claim the win, he was proud of his team's effort and their improved fitness levels.
"I felt that last week’s draw against Glasgow was a significant performance from us as it showed that our team are building the fitness levels that we need to be competitive.">In an ideal world, we would become a winning side overnight but the reality is that where we started was a long way behind the front runners in this championship.
"The ball in play time against Glasgow was 42 minutes and 41 seconds which compares favourably with most international matches.
Speaking to David Rennie their coach who joined from Waikato Chiefs in August after the game, he noted how he was pleasantly surprised at how fit they were when he arrived."
"For us this season one of the most important and the easiest issues to fix was to ensure that we never lost a match due to not being fit enough. That’s starting to come but the next step is to improve our skill set and game understanding. While our attack has improved, we still need to execute better in all areas of the pitch I feel that defensively we can really ramp things up in terms of aggressive defence and forced turnovers."
The Dragons team will be announced midday tomorrow, but Jackman has confirmed Gavin Henson has been ruled out of the match on Sunday due to a minor leg strain, along with Ashton Hewitt, so Zane Kirchner will again start at 10 with Hallam Amos back from Wales at full back. Back rower Lewis Evans returns from a shoulder injury for his second appearance in the Pro14 this season.
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