The Dragons’ European ambitions were dealt a major blow when they were beaten 32-13 by Bordeaux-Begles last Thursday, with a hat-trick of yellow cards and a heavy penalty count costing them dear at the Stade Andre Moga.
Andrew Coombs, Lewis Evans and Rob Sidoli were all sin binned on French spoil as the Dragons were unable to build on their brilliant bonus-point triumph against the same opposition six days earlier.
Next up is a trip to Galway to face a Connacht outfit who stunned European giants Toulouse in the Heineken Cup just a fortnight ago and Edwards knows they must stay on the right side of the referee if they are to return home with a vital league win.
“We had a tough time last week in France. Giving away 18 penalties and three yellow cards meant we had no chance,” Edwards told the South Wales Argus.
“Discipline will be crucial against Connacht and the back-to-back derbies with Cardiff Blues over Christmas because small margins are so important.
“We have to bounce back and sharpen up. We were disappointed with our accuracy. We were in a good place going out to France but we didn’t deal with the pressure. It’s important we learn from our mistakes each week.”
The Dragons’ last away game in the PRO12 was a stunning 23-8 success at high-flying Glasgow and Edwards and co would love a repeat in Round 10 of the domestic competition.
Connacht are notoriously tough opposition at The Sportsground but Pat Lam’s men haven’t won in the PRO12 since the opening day of the season and the Dragons will head across the Irish Sea confident of matching the Ospreys and Scarlets by winning in Galway.
History is against them, however, given that they haven’t achieved back-to-back league wins on the road in close to two years since they picked up victories at Edinburgh and then Aironi in February and March 2012.
“Everyone knows it is tough going to Connacht and you’ve got to deal with the tricky conditions there, especially at this time of year,” added Edwards.
“They will be coming back into the league a different team from the one that left it after their fantastic away win over Toulouse and they will be in a much better place after that.
“But we’ve got to get another away win to back up that great victory we had at Glasgow last month and that will set us up nicely to face the Blues.”
