“It will be – it has to be,” said the Premier Sports pundit earlier this week when discussing this weekend’s derby at Cardiff Arms Park.
The hosts are currently in 10th place on the points table and enter the match on the back of a victory over the Scarlets while the Dragons failed to fire a shot last time out against Benetton Treviso to enter the match three spots lower than Cardiff.
The former Wales international has seen both teams close up from the touchline this season and backs up his view that it will be a game to remember as it is already a ‘must win’ for both teams so early in the season.
“It would have been a game both teams would have targeted at the beginning of the season,” he said. “Teams go through calendars and say, right we need to win this one.
“Dragons need to win because if you start losing two or three on the bounce then heads start dropping and you start looking through the fixtures and you think, right we have got to go away to South Africa next.
‘The first nine games of the season sets you up as to where you are going to be in the league and whether you are chasing top eight then. You start having to look through fixtures and see who is coming next if you get on a losing run.
“It’s simply about winning for both teams – it’s all about momentum – you can move onto the next game full of confidence, making sure you back up performances but we didn’t really see that last year.”
Shanklin has been left frustrated with the Welsh teams’ inconsistency in the league where one good performance hasn’t been followed with another. He points to Cardiff as an example.
“Against Munster they looked good, they looked organised, they were good at the breakdown and then it’s crazy what one game can do to you – Glasgow away seems to have taken away all the confidence out of them,” he said.
David Young’s side were hammered 52-24 by Glasgow at Scotstoun Stadium and followed that up with a disappointing 18-31 defeat to the Lions at the Arms Park.
“Conditions were pretty appalling for the Lions game but they still had opportunities,” said a baffled Shanklin.
“We’ve seen teams perform one week and then we’re seeing a totally different team the next week. Welsh teams travelling away from home don’t look like they can compete away from home.”
Shanklin is expecting Dai Flanagan to make changes for the vital showdown after Benetton Treviso put his side away at Stadio Monigo last Sunday.
“You will see a totally different Dragons side this weekend,” he predicted.
“Certain players were rested in Italy, they looked pretty disorganised and I know they are not as I watched the Munster game and I watched the Sharks game and had it not been for one interception against the Sharks they should have seen that game out.
“So both teams will be at full strength and I think weather permitting it will be a great game.
“Dragons had a loss against the Sharks even though they fronted up and I was very impressed by their performance but they then rotated their squad for Benetton Treviso and it showed.
“There were lots of basic mistakes, a lot of poor kicking out of defence, in attack they had opportunities but they couldn’t take them. They looked like a team lacking in confidence and a team brought together that haven’t really played too much together.
“So that’s the key and the challenge as they won’t have the same players every single week, through injury, or being rested and unfortunately we’re not like a Leinster or an Ulster where you can rotate the squad and still be able to win comfortably.”
Tom Shanklin is part of the Premier Sports team providing live and exclusive coverage of the two big Welsh derbies this weekend and next. Tune in on Saturday (Oct 15th) to see Cardiff Rugby battle the Dragons live from Cardiff Arms Park – with all the build-up and analysis from 4.45pm on Premier Sports 2. With back-to-back Welsh derbies taking centre stage in the BKT URC this month – Premier Sports will also show Dragons against the Ospreys live from Rodney Parade on Sunday 23rd October kick off 3pm.
Premier Sports shows all 151 URC games throughout the season including the knock-out stages and Grand Final as well as top fixtures from France’s TOP 14 rugby every week. Find out more at www.premiersports.com. Rugby fans across the UK can tune into all of the live rugby action via the Premier Sports pack available from just £9.99 per month. Premier Sports is available on the platforms Sky, Virgin TV, the Premier Player and on Amazon Prime.
