Dragons came within inches of another memorable come-from-behind victory at Rodney Parade, only to end in a 15-all draw against Benetton.
Despite the comeback from 15-7 down and with only 13 men for a difficult spell either side of half-time, Dragons were still left disappointed to come away with only a draw.
Dragons’ willingness to fight and stay in the battle has been noticeable in recent games, both at home and in the face of adversity on the road against Munster and Ospreys.
Tonight was no different, however Owen stressed that the effort is now the bare minimum for this group going forward.
“We’ve spoken as a group that the effort is always there with this group and wanting to work hard for each other, but that’s a given,” said Owen.
“That’s a mentality that we’re trying to change, it’s a given to work hard and our accuracy and discipline has to go up a level if we want to perform and beat teams in this league.
“There are good teams in this league and just working hard isn’t enough and trying to change that mentality in terms of just getting that accuracy and we didn’t show that tonight which is the disappointing thing.”
Dragons were left ruing errors and ill-discipline in a tight first half where Benetton scored twice through Onisi Ratave, with Levi Douglas responding through his first try for the Men of Gwent.
“The character shown at the end and the effort was good, to almost win it at the end was also good,” said Owen.
“The disappointing thing from us was the way we started the game, the ill-discipline we showed, the inaccuracies we showed and the opportunities we had, that’s the disappointing thing.
“We should have taken way more out of that game and if we want to kick on as a team that’s got to change.”
With early injuries, along with international absentees, Dragons’ back row for the majority of the game was a very young one in Ryan Woodman (22), Harry Beddall (21) and Evan Minto (20), with all three having celebrated birthdays in recent weeks.
Woodman and Beddall have made thirteen and nine appearances so far this season and were joined by Minto in only his third appearance.
Owen was full of praise for them and young props Owain James (20) and Jordan Morris (22) who came on in the second half.
“Dragons have always had a good academy and brought players through and there are youngsters coming through and becoming good professionals,” said Owen.
“They have to front up with injuries, players away with internationals and the squads are bare now, so they have to front up and perform and I thought they did really well.
“The front row which came on, people like Harry Beddall who are working their socks off and it’s probably more on us as senior players to drive the accuracy and intent and try and guide those young players.”
