These are the rugby headlines for Friday night, December 29.

Explosion in Flanagan’s locker room

Dragons boss Dai Flanagan admits he lost his temper during his side’s 55-21 Boxing Day victory over Cardiff and has vowed to do the badge proud this weekend.

Flanagan’s side completely outclassed their hosts at Cardiff Arms Park, going into half-time with a 45-7 lead, conceding seven tries in the first 40 minutes. Although they responded with two tries after the break, the manager was left devastated after the final whistle, admitting it was the worst he had felt in his career.

Reflecting on the defeat, Flanagan said there had been “a lot of frustration” at the club in recent days and admitted the game had left him with rare attacks on his players during the match.

“There were some ‘efs’ and stuff at halftime and I probably let my emotions get the best of me, which I never do. I don’t yell at my kids a lot, but probably more than my players! The break was just to get badges. We were disappointed to concede points in the second half because [at half-time] it was about how much we cared about each other and the badge.

“I wanted to come in and lose my temper and call them the wrong words,” he added. “They’re not bad people, they just let themselves and us down, and they know it, they don’t need to be told. “They need the black and white facts of the statistics behind that game: the missed tackles, the number of transfers Cardiff could have had.”

But with the Scarlets heading into the New Year, the Dragons have a real chance of bouncing back from the tough defeat and, following constructive negotiations with the club’s owners, Flanagan is confident the region can get back on track sooner rather than later. .

“Additionally, there will be certain things that we will have to do as a region to ensure that we are moving in the right direction and accelerate certain things,” he said. “The people who run this club really care about this. They are very supportive of the direction we need to take and we need to move faster on some things.

“We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different answers,” he added. “My job now this week is to go in and completely break everything down and break the chain. I’m sure if I had stuck with the same 23 players this weekend we would have reacted and done well, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s not about saying “oh, we’re good now” and then going back down. It’s about completely breaking that pattern, breaking the chain.

“Next year I will have to make some serious decisions. These are serious decisions, but we have to break the mold. We all agreed, the owners and I, on how to do it; It just means we might have to do it a little faster.”

The Scarlets “can change everything”

Scarlets defense coach Gareth Williams is confident they can turn their season around after a dire run of results.

West Welsh have won just twice this season, with the lowest point coming when they lost at home to Georgian Black Lion. This has increased pressure on coach Dwayne Peele, but Williams is confident he will improve.

“It’s definitely reversible,” Williams said. “The key is to keep the team together, move forward, focus on how we can improve and then continue to get those wins.

“This is the goal. You really think when you win. We had a pretty gloomy day at the Swansea.com Stadium a few weeks ago.

“We really came back and were fantastic against Cardiff at the Arms Park.

Williams admitted the Scarlets have struggled in all aspects of the game this season. “I think it’s more our overall game,” he added. “I don’t think we were successful in any aspect of our game.

“It’s just that we need to find our cohesion in all elements of our game, from the dead ball, the transition to our defense, to our attack, and try to put it all together. I thought we’d seen this a few times at the Arms Park. weeks ago, but he’s just trying to be consistent with that kind of performance.”

England star’s injuries are hell

England winger Jack Willis has spoken of his relief at returning to action after a few more months of injury.

The 27-year-old returned to action in Toulouse’s 25-17 victory over Toulon on 23 December. He did not play after injuring his neck against Chile in the World Cup. That shot ruled him out of the tournament, but he was later diagnosed with a cervical hernia, which put him under the knife.

The brutal move is the latest in a series of injuries for the star defender, who was sidelined for more than a year when he suffered serious knee ligament damage against Italy in 2021.

But upon returning to action before Christmas, Willis said he was happy to be back. says French media actuRugby: “I was happy to play again. The first 20 minutes, I admit, were difficult for me! “Then it was better.”

Speaking about his serious injuries, he added: “The World Cup was difficult for me. I didn’t play much and I got injured. [When I had the hernia] I have almost no strength left in my left hand, just 40%. It was very difficult to pass.

“I worked a lot with physiotherapists. I’m much better today. I feel 100% physically.”

The URK coach intends to “strangle” his rival

Anthony Brown, Pennsylvania

Shaun Everitt believes Edinburgh must find a way to “suffocate” Glasgow if they are to overcome a 12-point deficit and win the 1872 Cup at Murrayfield on Saturday. The Warriors beat the men from the Scottish capital 22-10 in the first leg of the long-distance derby in Scotstoun last Friday.

Edinburgh senior coach Everitt knows his team will need to be in complete control at the National Stadium this weekend if they are to stand a chance of achieving the big win needed to claim the titles and local bragging rights. However, the South African insists his main objective must simply be to beat Glasgow and pick up points in the Rugby United Championship.

“We must not forget that we are in the URC competition and points are vital,” he said when asked about finding a balance between winning this weekend and closing a 12-point deficit. “We have to seek above all to gain points in the championship and that at the expense of victory. We will always keep an eye on the deficit, but what matters is how you ingest that deficit.

“One of them is that when you have the opportunity to put points on the scoreboard, you cannot suffer weaknesses. You need to strangle your opponent to get that difference in points. For us, it’s all about the URC at this stage, so let’s look for victory first and then we’ll see how we can make up for that deficit.”

Everitt made two changes to the team that started the first leg at Scotstown, with Luke Crosby replacing Hamish Watson in the back row and center Mark Bennett replacing the injured James Lang. The manager will hope to be encouraged by last week’s news that Scottish X-Factor wingers Duane van der Merwe and Darcy Graham have extended their contracts by one and three years respectively.

“This is a huge boost for Edinburgh and Scottish rugby,” Everitt said. “We are delighted that they have both signed. They make a huge contribution to the team and we are confident in the experience they bring as international rugby players. Darcy was in excellent form at the last World Cup and we know how dangerous he can be with the ball in his hands.

“With the way defenses are at the moment, you need X-factor players and they will both certainly bring that to the field at the weekend.”