Pete Wilkins: Slaying Dragons a key piece of Connacht jigsaw

With their play-off hopes on the line, Connacht boss Pete Wilkins says Saturday's BKT URC clash against Dragons is a must-win.

Currently ninth in the table, level on 39 points with Edinburgh but behind the Scottish club on matches won, the Westerners visit Newport on Saturday evening (8pm, live on RTÉ) knowing that anything less than a victory severely dents their chances of securing a last-eight place.

Connacht scraped to a 22-20 win in last season’s encounter at Rodney Parade and despite the Dragons’ poor year – they sit in second last place – the Welsh region have won three of their last four homes games.

Wilkins, whose side face Munster and Leinster in two of their last three games, has seen enough to know the threat they present.

"There’s enough to be concerned about with the Dragons, to be honest," he told RTÉ Sport.

"Regardless of their position or wins and losses, they are a team that doesn’t go away.

"They certainly have a threat attacking from deep and they have a very effective kicking game as well.

"They can ping you in one area of the field and force errors from you. Over many seasons, they’ve always had a very good back-row.

"Their forward pack never takes a backward step. So when you add up all those qualities, transplant that to Rodney Parade, which remains one of the toughest places to play rugby."

Dai Flanagan’s side were beaten 36-19 last weekend by Benetton and Wilkins added: "We’ve got quite the challenge. We’ll be all guns blazing to win it.

"In the context of our season, it’s crucial for us to win to remain in control of our destiny and also to make sure the final three games – Munster into Stormers and Leinster – doesn’t become insurmountable.

"We will certainly target a win every week but this is a crucial