Darren Edwards’ troops were beaten 27-19 by RaboDirect PRO12 strugglers Connacht a fortnight ago as their hopes of overtaking the Blues as Wales’ third-best-placed region took a serious dent.
Centre Ashley Smith has since spoken of a desire to repair the damage from that shock reverse and a performance he described as ‘simply not good enough’, while the forced retirement of hooker Lloyd Burns may act as extra motivation.
Wales international Burns called time on his career earlier this week due to a potential heart problem and the Dragons will look to end what was been a difficult few days with a eighth league win of the season against a side that are just a place below them in the table.
Revenge will also be on the agenda at Rodney Parade as the Dragons look to make a mockery of the 50-point mauling they suffered at the hands of the same opposition at the end of October. The Dragons conceded exactly a half century of points at the Stadio di Monigo on arguably their most disappointing 80 minutes of the season and a repeat on their own patch is almost unthinkable.
The Dragons are currently just three points above their Italian rivals with three games left to play but victory tonight would make it difficult for Treviso to jump back above them in the final two weeks of the season.
The 12-point gap to the seventh-placed Blues now appears beyond the Dragons, although their PRO12 form prior to defeat to Connacht suggests that three straight wins against Treviso, away at the Ospreys and home to leaders Leinster isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.
Before losing in the last round of action, the Dragons had won four of their last five games thanks to a double over Heineken Cup semi-finalists Edinburgh, a home win against the Blues and an away victory against Aironi.
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