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Jackman backs Connor Edwards as a ‘real find’

Dragons Head Coach Bernard Jackman believes that young centre Connor Edwards, “could be somebody… to be a real find for us.”

The 20-year-old made his senior debut against Scarlets in the Anglo-Welsh Cup in November and has excelled since making seven appearances for the Men of Gwent.

Prior to making these appearances Edwards earned Wales U20s international honours against Italy during last year’s World Rugby U20 Championship in Georgia, as well as being involved with Bedwas RFC in the Principality Premiership – and it’s been during this time and his recent performances for the Welsh region that he has impressed Jackman.

“His future is very good because he has that physicality and capacity to play directly – he is strong in contact and he is a strong defender,” said Jackman.

“We saw against the Cheetahs, and also over the last couple of months, that his passing game has developed.

“The first try was down to him because he took the ball right under the nose of the defence and then pulled it out the back. That gave the outside backs the opportunity to score in the corner.

“We like him a lot and he was somebody a little bit off the radar who wasn’t touted as being an outstanding under-age player. But he is someone who is very driven and has developed a lot this year under Shaun Connor and Barry Maddocks to improve his skill set enormously.”

Jackman continued: “He runs that Jamie Roberts line in the 22.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get the ball to him in time against the Cheetahs and he overran it, because it’s all or nothing – hit him and he scores.

“We were really happy with him against Saracens in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and said that we wanted to get him game time.”

With three matches remaining, the Dragons see him adding to his appearance list as he is part their plans to finish on a high.

“This could be a really big end of season for him to lay down a marker for next year. He is a big part of our plans,” said Bernard Jackman.

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