Cuthbert: Too many at Dragons for wrong reasons
Wales international Alex Cuthbert believes one of the main reasons for the Dragons’ poor results in recent seasons is that there are too many players who are “not there for the right reasons”.
The Rodney Parade outfit were beaten 44-21 by the Stormers on Friday night, a result which sees them sit 15th out of 16 in the URC table. There is set to be change ahead of the new season, with a number of signings already having been announced, among them is Filo Tiata, who will come in as defence coach.
Former Ospreys coach Sean Holley knows Tiatia well from his days at the Ospreys and thinks he has the ability to “transform” the side. He said on BBC Scrum V: “The biggest thing for me is Filo Tiatia, who I worked with at the Ospreys, he is going to be huge for them.
“I said this to Dai Flanagan, it’s more off the pitch with Filo, his coaching will be planned and detailed, but it’s more the cultural aspect. The values, how they conduct themselves, the one percenters that are very important. The little big things. He is going to transform that dressing room.”
Wales international and Ospreys star Cuthbert then weighed in, adding: “Tiatia will come in and he will look out [for] the people who are not really there for the right reasons and there’s probably too many in that club, which is probably why they only win three or four games a year.
“He is going to come in and really clear out the players who should be there and shouldn’t be there.”
One of the more positive aspects to come out of the game was another top display by the bang-in-form Aaron Wainwright. Ex-Wales international Tom Shanklin waxed lyrical about the Dragons back-rower. He said: “He’s in fabulous form. He is unbelievable when he carries. When he’s on it, he’s up there with some of the best we’ve got.
“He’s so physical. A lot of it is to do with his footwork before contract. It’s very clever. They use him best they can, you want someone like Wainwright running at the smaller people.
“How good would this Dragons team be if you had four Aaron Wainwrights in there? It would be amazing. He is by far their best player. You could maybe say Rio Dyer is up there, but in terms of carrying and getting over the gain line, he is incredible. But one man can’t do it.
“But this is what they’re trying to do, the Dragons, they are looking for size and physicality and you’ve seen that in some of the signings they’ve made. If you get a couple of big carriers like that, it makes rugby so much easier.”
All Blacks captain quits
All Blacks captain Sam Cane has announced he is to retire from international rugby. The flanker will be available for New Zealand’s matches in 2024 but will relinquish the captaincy with immediate effect.
“Having played 95 Tests — 27 as captain — the 32-year-old has decided to focus on spending more time with family and sign a long-term contract with Suntory Goliath in Tokyo,” New Zealand Rugby said in a statement.
Cane said the prospect of a three-year deal with the Tokyo club was too good to pass up.
“I had to weigh up everything and, in the end, with a young family, it seemed like the best decision to help set up our future,” he said.
“It was a very hard one because I love the teams that I represent here in New Zealand.”