There has been so much to admire about Dai Flanagan in his first season as a regional head coach.
Take his handling of Angus O’Brien earlier in the season after the full-back had a couple of head knocks in quick succession. He had progressed through and passed his return-to-play protocols.
But his team boss decided he needed to be taken out of the firing line for a number of matches. “Angus will be stepped down for the block after two concussions in three weeks. He is fine in himself but it’s a decision that I am making more than him,” said Flanagan at the time.
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“I need to protect these people and nobody actually knows what goes on inside the head. As much as he is getting through the concussion protocols, we have made a decision to stand him down so that he comes back stronger after the next couple of games.”
Brilliant, enlightened and caring management of a player, then.
Walking the walk as well as talking the talk.
Flanagan’s calm demeanour has also impressed in press conference.
Initially, the results were there, too.
There were three wins in the United Rugby Championship in the first block of matches — nothing startling, but one more win than the Dragons managed in the whole of the previous season in the league.
Munster were beaten and the Ospreys and Zebre had 47 points put past them.
Dragons supporters could have been forgiven for believing altogether better times were ahead.
Sadly for all concerned, the light at the end of tunnel has turned out to be an onrushing train as setbacks have piled up culminating in Saturday’s 73-33 hammering at the hands of Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun.
There were 11 home tries in all, five of them from the hooker Johnny Matthews as the Welsh club found it hard to repulse the Scots’ driving maul.
Indiscipline once again hit the visitors, with prop Aki Seiuli sent off after a clearout made contact with home scrum-half Peter Horne’s head. It didn’t look intentional, but it was careless and Seiuli apologised to his former team-mate as he left the pitch. Someone said he should have said sorry to his current team-mates, as well, as they were left to play the final 58 minutes of the game with depleted numbers.
It proved an impossible task for a side who were already missing a number of important players such as Will Rowlands, Sio Tompkinson and Harri Keddie.
But the Dragons are having difficulty keeping a full complement on the pitch right now with a player dismissed in each of the past three games, Seiuli following Tompkinson and Matthew Screech in receiving his marching orders.
It’s hard enough for the Rodney Parade side to eke out wins when they have everyone present and correct and firing for the cause. When there is one of their number sitting on the sidelines having been ordered off their task becomes a hopeless one. It’s not astro-physics, and Flanagan will know as much.
In fairness, the loss of Rowlands for much of this season has been a hammer blow.
Welsh rugby’s player of the year for last season gave the Dragons an injection of top-quality where they need it most — in the front five.The east Wales side have some classy players behind, including Rio Dyer and Rhodri Williams, who shone amid the Glasgow gloom, but they have had problems at scrum-time this season and indeed for longer than many care to remember. When Welsh rugby’s financial situation eventually settles, the Dragons’ top priority should be to bring in a couple of strong-scrummaging props.
It goes without saying they also need to tighten up their defence.
According to one count, they missed 30 tackles against Glasgow. Even if we take into account they were down in numbers for much of the game, that is still a dismal figure. Some of the defensive lapses would have disturbed even Flanagan’s Zen-like calm. There were soft contacts that put pressure team-mates. It made for a miserable picture.
No win in the league since October and knocked out of Europe while shipping 73 points adds up to another grim campaign for the Rodney Paraders.
What to do now? They have tried changing coaches before and it hasn’t got them anywhere.
Flanagan was talked up early on in the campaign and he remains a promising young team boss.
He’ll know discipline needs to improve and he’ll know the Dragons need to strengthen in key areas while they also need to work at developing a winning culture.
Such matters can take time. But the past few months have been dismal for the Dragons.
Once again, the script has gone wrong for them.
It’s a line that could have been written at various points over most campaigns over the past 20 years, with the first one a notable exception under Mike Ruddock.
We all know Welsh rugby's tight budgets have worked against all the regions being competitive.
But, still, the Gwent side should be better than they have been.
Can we expect matters to improve any time soon?
The bar is set low, but, to mix a metaphor, the Dragons have seemingly forgotten how to move forward.
They have to put that right.
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