The East Wales foes will come to blows in the semi-final of the European Rugby Challenge Cup on April 4. But the Coombs and co. must first travel to Italy to take-on Benetton Treviso in the Guinness PRO12. And the 10-cap international is keen to build momentum ahead of the derby clash.
He said: “The European quarter-final against the Blues has been in the back of our minds since the draw. But we have to put that to one side this week as Treviso will be a massive challenge for us. It’s all about getting momentum working towards the Blues, who have a tough game this week, but Treviso are no pushovers as they beat the Blues a few weeks ago.
“The result over in Italy against Zebre was unacceptable, we’re a young side and after that match we spoke about having to grow up. We’ve been turning over teams like Leinster away and Ulster at home and to lose to Zebre away was nonsense.
“But we’re getting somewhere this season, there are some big games now in the second-half of the season and if we can win them then we’ll be doing well.”
The Dragons claimed a confidence-boosting win against high-flying Ulster last time out, and will could leapfrog the Blues in the league if they win in Italy and they fail to get a result as Munster. And Coombs reckons they can pout out Treviso’s fire by pouring water on their effective set-piece.
He said: “Treviso’s game starts with the scrum, they have a big pack and that’s where they will be most dangerous. We have to be at the races there but with our scrum with Boris Stankovich and Brok Harris, we don’t have to worry about things like that, it should be fine on the day.”
