Sam Davies says the resurgent Dragons would love to be thefirst Welsh team to claim a victory out in South Africa in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

The four regions lost all eight games in the Rainbow Nation during lastseason’s inaugural Vodacom URC campaign and they now head out there en masse at the endof November for back-to-back fixtures.
For the Dragons, that means matches against the Lions in Johannesburg and theStormers in Cape Town.

They will make the trip in good spirits having already recorded more leaguevictories in their opening seven matches than they did all last season. Their 47-7 demolition of Zebre at Rodney Parade was their third triumph so farthis term, following up home successes against Munster and the Ospreys. So could they break the Welsh duck when they travel to South Africa?

“We are in the best possible place to do so,” declared fly-half Davies. “It is a tough place to go, no Welsh region has gone out there and won yet. Wewould love to be the first team to do that.
“It’s going to be hard work and we understand that. But, for us, it’s justabout making sure we get better week on week. It’s been a good first block, butwe can’t rest now. It’s about backing it up. There’s still a large part of theseason to go.”

The Dragons’ rise has come under the tutelage of head coach Dai Flanagan whojoined from the Scarlets in the summer. “Dai has just given us a bit more freedom,” explained Davies. “He has come inand got his attacking philosophy going with us. He understands what this groupneeds and that’s what is getting the most out of us at the moment.

“You will see us playing some good rugby, but most of the time it’s in theright areas of the field. Our set-piece is streets ahead of where it was lastyear and that gives us a foundation to play off and that’s massive in rugby.

“You look at our lineout drive, we are stealing opposition ball, we are gettingpenalties off our scrum. We are starting to change the perception of refereesand that’s credit to our forward pack, giving us the platform to play off. Weare also taking our opportunities a lot more now.

“We have got boys stepping up and performing when our internationals are away.There’s depth building here, which is massive for us. It’s a privilege to bepart of such a good group.”
For his first three years at the Dragons, after joining fron the Ospreys,Davies was a virtual ever present at No 10, making 60 appearances.

This season, it’s been a bit of a different story. He has had to bide his time,with new recruit JJ Hanrahan and young Will Reed both featuring at fly-half.

But, after a start at full-back in the victory over the Ospreys, he was thenrestored to his accustomed pivotal berth for the meeting with Zebre andresponded by landing all nine kicks at goal, as well as pulling the strings togood effect behind.

“You don’t often get nine shots. To get them all over is a real confidenceboost,” he said.
“I know I am capable of doing it, but to be able to show it on a game day isgood. It’s something I work on in training every day. I’ve just got to makesure I keep nailing them kicks.”

Talking about the competition at 10, he said: “JJ has come in and done reallywell in the first block. It’s pushed me on to do well when I get my opportunities. It’s only going to benefit the squad. I look forward to sharing the game-timewith JJ. At 29 and 30, we can’t play week-in, week-out and I think that’s wherewe came a bit unstuck last year. Whatever we are needed to do, we will do.”

It’s hard to believe Davies is 29 as it seems like only yesterday he wasplaying for Wales U20s. It was, in fact, the summer of 2013 when he helpedguide Wales to the U20s World Championship final, being named Junior WorldPlayer of the Year for his performances at fly-half.

It’s something of a Rodney reunion for that 2013 team right now, with Davies,Rhodri Williams, Jack Dixon, Steff Hughes and Jordan Williams all togetheragain in the Dragons back line, while Elliot Dee and James Benjamin were amongthe Welsh forwards nine years ago.
Centre Hughes is the latest addition to the squad at the Gwent region, havingcome on board after being released by the Scarlets, marking his arrival with acouple of tries in recent weeks.

“It’s amazing to get that partnership back with Steff,” said Davies.
“He has done really well coming in from the Scarlets. He has given us anotherreal option in the centre. I am really enjoying playing with him, I am enjoyingplaying with JJ, I am enjoying playing with Rhodri and Gonzalo (Bertranou).It’s like a breath of fresh air.

“If we can keep backing up the performances, especially at home, then we aregoing to be in a good place come the end of the season.”

The eight-times capped Davies concluded: “I’m not a youngster anymore and mybody is screaming that out from the rooftops. But, at 29, I have still gotplenty of years ahead of me. I am here to add experience to the side and offereverything I can and we will see where we go from there.”