NEWPORT Gwent Dragons chief executive Stuart Davies hopes to reap the rewards of his predecessor's hard work in thrashing out a new Rugby Services Agreement with the Welsh Rugby Union.

Two weeks into the job at Rodney Parade and the former Wales number eight's ears are burning after replacing Gareth Davies as chief executive of the Dragons and Newport.

He said: "I am doing a lot of listening at the moment, meeting with the senior people within the organisation and the board.

"I am getting a feel for it before looking to shape things, grow things and put my stamp on it."

And to that end Davies will profit from the toil of his namesake, who was at times frustrated by the amount of time he had to spend on Regional Rugby Wales' efforts to secure a fresh six-year deal with the governing body at the expense of matters at Rodney Parade.

Gareth Davies' efforts in championing the cause of the regions led to him being voted in as chairman of the WRU and leaving his role in Newport.

"Gareth's tenure was basically revolving around the Rugby Services Agreement so in the early days of my appointment it's important that I am attending to the operational and commercial side of things," said Stuart Davies.

"The RSA will allow some planning and as soon as it was announced I am sure Lyn (Jones, director of rugby) was already thinking of how it would be a game-changer in terms of future squads. That work has started and I am not impacting on that.

"It must have been an incredibly difficult time and the uncertainty that it must have created across the four regional businesses must have been huge.

"I didn't envy them having to deal with that and the manner with which Gareth dealt with it saw him move to the Union and that's a good thing for the regions because he will have empathy with our position.

"At least now there is a bit more certainty."

Stuart Davies won 17 caps for Wales and made 245 appearances for Swansea before injury forced him to retire, leading to him becoming a broadcaster with the BBC and columnist with the South Wales Evening Post.

However, the 49-year-old is at pains to point out that he has always had a life outside rugby, initially working as an environmental health officer with Swansea Council and then as director of development at Gwalia Housing Association.

"This isn't jobs for the boys or a rugby network kicking in," said Davies, who has quit his media commitments.

"I hadn't previously been in the company of anyone who has appointed me and it was a standing start for me with (the appointment) based on personal and professional qualities rather than being a rugby guy looking to stay in the game.

"Any side I have been part of gets all of me. They will have honesty and integrity, all of the personal qualities that have been important to me in my professional and personal life.

"But in terms of 'who is this guy coming in from Swansea to be our CEO?', they will get my all."

Davies is relishing the chance to enjoy the feeling of "winning or losing on a weekend" for the first time since hanging up his boots, with the obvious preference for the former.

"There is an affinity for the Dragons among the people of Wales whether as a neutral or looking for second region and that's from the underdog tag," he said. "But when affinity moves towards sympathy we've got a problem.

"I want to change that perception of the Dragons. It's great to say that we've got the best rugby experience in Wales in terms of the ground and matchday occasion but we've got to move towards earning respect and building a reputation.

"I am hearing those words from the rugby side of things so there is an honest acceptance of where we are at and where we want to be.

"We have a very capable rugby team in Lyn Jones, Kingsley Jones and Huw Bevan with Shaun Connor having just come on board. The squad is in good hands."