Despite two clinical first half finishes and brave defence throughout, Jason Tovey identified the Dragons’ discipline a key factor in the second half as Ospreys came back to snatch victory.
“Our discipline let us down because at the start of the second-half we gave them three or four penalties, they kicked to the corner and scored two tries.
“From there, we couldn’t get back into the game and we’d put ourselves in a good position, but let it slip again.
“I don’t know if it’s a mental thing because we get to the same stage and end up giving penalties away and giving the opposition field position - then just can’t get out of the little holes we get ourselves into.”
With a trip to South Africa looming next for the Dragons, the Men of Gwent have two further opportunities to put an end to their unenviable away record. The conditions may favour the hosts, so Tovey knows no shortage of hard work will be needed as the closing stages of the campaign approach.
“It’ll be two tough games out there: it’s going to be warm and fast-tracked, but we’re looking forward to it and just need to knuckle down and keep working hard in training.
“We know how dangerous they are [Southern Kings] from watching them throughout the season and they’ve much improved since last season, so we need to go out there, be switched on for 80 minutes, otherwise it’ll be another long day.
“The three teams we’ve got left all like to play rugby, so it’s up to us to stay switched on for them and we’ve got a match with Scarlets, who will look to finish the season on a high and get in the play-off spots.”
Tovey returned to Rodney Parade this season after two seasons with Edinburgh and after fourteen points against Timiosoara Saracens back in January edged him close to becoming the first Dragons player to reach 1,000 points he completed the feat with a first half conversion and penalty last Saturday.
Commenting on the milestone he added, “It was probably eight games later than I’d have wanted it, but I got there, so individually it was nice to get it and it would have been nice to get the win, so there’s that disappointment to it.
“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster and obviously this season hasn’t gone as we’d have liked, but we’ve just got to roll our sleeves up and get on with it.
“It’s not individual and how I fit into the team: things haven’t gone as planned at the moment so we’ll continue to try and improve.
The record points scorer has been enjoying a battle for the number 10 jersey this season with Josh Lewis.
“It’s quite nice, we’re good friends, we get on with each other and we’re always in training having competition with each other, whether it’s goal kicking or out of hand kicking, so it’s good friendly competition.
“Whether he starts or I start we’ll both be doing the same for the jersey and whether he comes on for the last 15 minutes like he did today, we’ll put our all in. There are no problems, we get on with each other and we need to see how we can improve the team.”
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