“It was an incredible feeling to have won my first cap at Rodney Parade in such a great atmosphere. We executed the game plan we had worked on and the forwards were excellent,” said Woods.
“The Irish are a team that likes to go through multi-phases so we knew back field coverage would be important. We needed to stay connected in the back three and make sure that when the ball came to us it went off the pitch.
“We are a big defensive team and we are comfortable without the ball. This team can do something very special. It’s all about building confidence and not backing off.”
Joining him in the win was fellow rising Dragons star Harri Ford, who came on to kick a vital penalty to help clinch victory.
Ford made his senior Dragons debut off the bench in Parma in last weekend’s United Rugby Championship defeat to Zebre. In the previous game it had been Wales U20 No 8 Evan Minto who earned his Dragons debut, while Owain James joined Ford on the bench in Italy last weekend.
“It was a massive win for us against Ireland and I’m just pleased for the team that we’ve got over the line in two games in a row. We dug deep in defence and we showed real desperation,” said Ford.
“It was probably the best team performance I’ve ever been involved in in a Welsh jersey. We can now go up to Scotland full of confidence to try to get another win to take us into the England game.
“We’ve got a lot of boys from last year and with two away games at the start we have become a really tight group. That time spent together is benefitting us.
“The crowd were outstanding for us at Rodney parade and were definitely our 16th man. Let’s hope we can have an even bigger turn out for the final game against England because we’d love to beat them.”
