Maybe, but they were little more than 'spirited'. They battled well, defending well on the whole, but they were second best in almost every facet of the game. When they have the ball their phase play is frankly abysmal. Elliot Dee is the only player who gets them over the advantage line without losing the ball in contact or getting himself isolated. They either send one-up runners into contact and struggle to generate quick ball, or ship the ball across the backline. Both result in them losing considerable ground and ultimately are forced to box kick. There was a number of occasions today where they started with a lineout in or around the Glasgow 10m line, but after a number of phases were back in their own half.
I just don't see all that much improvement in them yet. They're not shipping as many points, but they're still horribly blunt in attack, and they're far too passive when defending in the opposition half, which gives the opposition easy territory, meaning the Dragons spend far too much time deep in their own half. Jordan Williams is given zero space to work in eirher which is a real shame, because he's lethal if given an inch. Rosser is a fine runner on the wing as well, but every time the ball reached him as the Dragons just passed it laterally across the backline, he was forced to try to cut inside and was easily tackled every time.
10 is still a massive problem position for them. None of their options seem capable of playing a territorial game, and none of them direct their attach all that well. You see Patchell directing the Scarlets around the field, or Anscombe the Blues, and you see how much the Dragons are lacking someone with authority in such a pivotal position. Sam Davies is struggling a little in this regard as well, with the Ospreys looking disjointed as well.
Hopefully they're working hard on their skills and attacking structures, because they won't win many games unless they can improve both. Sure they'll battle and keep the scores close for an hour or so, but most sides will find a way through.
