ARWEL Robson hopes he has shown Dragons boss Bernard Jackman his growing maturity after curbing his attacking instincts to play the wet weather rugby against Zebre.

The 21-year-old opened the scoring in the 16-5 win Guinness PRO14 at Rodney Parade with a nippy break from just outside the 22 yet it was his kicking out of hand that helped secure the spoils.

Incessant rain meant it was a day for putting boot to ball and Robson and half-back partner Rhodri Williams won the duel with their Italian counterparts.

"It was a really mature performance, the ball was like soap so we had to play the corners," said Robson.

"I know it's not attractive rugby but sometimes you have to play the conditions and I thought we did that.

"I like to play running rugby but conditions took over and you have to be mature. I thought me and Rhods did a good job of playing the conditions.

"The second half was really good, we didn't concede any points, we only scored three but we'll take that any day of the week – we shipped 50 points to Leinster so we've been doing a lot of defence and it showed."

Robson punted nicely but has room for improvement from the tee after missing two conversions and a penalty, leading to full-back Jordan Williams taking responsibility to bang over a three-pointer early in the second half.

The fly-half said: "I am happy with the try but I'll have to bring my kicking boots next week!

"It's about kicking on [after the win]. There is nothing to lose in Glasgow so we will have a real go and hopefully pick something up."

The Dragons endured a miserable 2017/18 campaign but it was invaluable for Robson, who was given a pair of Anglo-Welsh Cup outings by Kingsley Jones the previous season.

He enjoyed 12 outings to add to his experience only to be denied the chance to keep the 10 jersey at the start of this season.

Robson had two operations to solve a long-standing problem with his left ankle – although he was surprised when the hospital initially started marking up his right foot in error – and new signing Josh Lewis got first crack.

Lewis has started twice, Gavin Henson got the nod and Robson wore 10 against Zebre while Jacob Botica, who headed south from RGC this summer, has been impressing with the A team in the Celtic Cup.

"It was nice to have 60 minutes and it was good for the good for the lungs," said Robson, who came off the bench against the Southern Kings and Leinster.

"The boys are competing for starts and putting pressure on each other. Gav is going to come back in soon and that's a great place to be – you can't rest on your last performance, you have to keep on pushing in training."