Career fears spurred us on, says Mustoe

Jan 2 2008 Western Mail

RICHARD MUSTOE admitted employment fears helped inspire the Dragons to a confidence-boosting Welsh derby triumph over the Scarlets yesterday.

The winger’s finish deep in injury-time allowed them to steal the spoils from the Magners League title-chasers.

Afterwards, Rodney Parade’s newest hero, confided, “I don’t know if being under pressure are the right words. We were really fighting for our careers.”

Dragons had been victorious just once, against Treviso in the Heineken Cup early last month, in nine fixtures to leave the axe hovering.

“When you look at the results we have had, this is how we felt. We have just being doing everything we can to put things right,” Mustoe went on.

“Rugby is all about results and we have not been getting them.

“If we had not got that try, there would have been a lot of questions asked.”

He was referring to the Dragons’ decision to throw the ball wide from a set move following a scrum.

Most people, including Dragons coach Paul Turner, expected them to pick up at the base and drive forward, before giving outside-half Ceri Sweeney a chance to put over a drop-goal, which would have earned them a draw against their regional rivals.

But, Mustoe explained, “We went for a double top, or whatever they say in darts, and we came out winners.

“It was probably Sweeney’s decision and it paid off. It was a brave move to call.

“It was a fantastic result for us because we have not always given a good account of ourselves this season.

“A few times we have been the losers in those sort of circumstances, so to be on the winning end of it was incredible.

“Whether I was involved in the winning try or not didn’t matter, getting the win was just huge for us.

“We were told it was the last play when we went for the scrum, so to score from it was superb.

“But we can’t get carried away. It is one won at home, where we should expect to win.”

Fellow try-scorer Ashley Smith chipped in, “We left it a bit late, but any win is a positive.”

He revealed full-back Kevin Morgan was ‘doing his nut’ minutes before when the Dragons turned down a kickable penalty to go for a try, only for their line-out to malfunction.

“He was screaming when we lost it. It was certainly in his mind to go for a penalty,” smiled Smith.

“I thought we deserved to beat the Scarlets. There were three or four occasions when we had overlaps, but got tied up at the ruck for an extra three or four seconds.

“Fair play to the Scarlets, and Simon Easterby and James Bater, that is their speciality.”