The Dragons have made steady progress under director of rugby Dean Ryan over the past couple of seasons, and have recruited smartly this season with props Aki Seiuli and Mesake Doge, full back Jordan Olowofela, and Wales second-row Will Rowlands joining.
And Davies insists the Dragons are looking to get stuck into the Ospreys in their first United Rugby Championship clash of the season at Rodney Parade this weekend. “I’m optimistic and I think I’ve got a right to be given how we finished the PRO14 last year,” said Davies.
“We showed promising signs. With a couple of good additions this year who have fitted in really well, there’s every reason to be optimistic.
“But we won’t get ahead of ourselves, we’ll take every game as it comes. The game against the Ospreys is a great one for us to start.
“A derby game against my old club and it’s exciting to start with a derby. Yeah, it’s a great chance for us to take some scalps and win some games people maybe don’t expect us to.
“But we’re not going to come out and say we’ll win four out of five. That would be stupid and naive. We’ll take it game by game.
“The big focus is the Ospreys and then we’ll move on. It’ll come thick and fast. We’re probably in the best place we’ve been in since I’ve been here.”
Davies admits the Dragons players are full of excitement at the prospect of a Welsh derby in front of a big crowd at Rodney Parade. But one thing the 27-year-old hasn’t succeeded at doing while playing for the Dragons is beating an Irish province.
And he insists knocking over Leinster, Munster, Ulster, or Connacht this season has to be a target for his side. “You look at the Leinster game last year, Ulster in the Principality, Connacht at Rodney Parade – they’re all games we could have won,” said the eight-times capped Wales international.
“Having a year more experience for the youngsters, plus the experience that has come in, that is going to help us. We put in good performances but were unable to get it over the line.
“One thing that’s been really frustrating since I’ve been here is I can’t remember turning over an Irish team. It’s more of a mental challenge and then hopefully more will flow.
“It’s always a challenge coming up against the Irish teams but it’s one I’m looking forward to.” This season will see the introduction of South Africa’s strongest franchises; the Blue Bulls, Lions, Sharks, and Stormers.
And Davies is relishing the challenge of testing himself against the best the Rainbow Nations has to offer. “It’ll be interesting to see even from a player point of view,” he said.
“We don’t know how they’re going to come over in the pouring rain in December. We can’t worry about that, we can only focus on our own performance and then hopefully the fans buy into that.
“Hopefully the fans get excited by the likes of Siya Kolisi playing on these shores. It can only be good for the competition bringing in quality sides.
“They were ranked the best team in the world a week ago and now most of those players are going to be dispersed around this league. What more do you want as a fan?”
