Jamie Roberts: Dragons centre aims to play on at highest level
- Published
Jamie Roberts scored one of four Dragons tries as they secured a first win of the new Pro14 season
Wales centre Jamie Roberts is aiming to play at the highest level for as long as possible after starring on his Dragons home debut.
Roberts was man of the match in the Dragons' 26-18 Pro14 win over Zebre.
The 33-year-old has been a mentor for Dragons' younger players since joining the region in August but says his primary concern is on-field success.
"My role is to win rugby games, I'm a competitive bloke and the mentor role is a minor part," Roberts said.
The Zebre games marked Roberts' first appearance in a Welsh regional home dressing room since he left Cardiff Blues in 2013.
Roberts went on to play for Racing 92, Harlequins, Bath, Cambridge University and South Africa's Stormers and won the last of his 94 Wales caps in 2017.
He was among the try scorers as Dragons earned a bonus-point victory over Zebre to bounce back from heavy defeats against Leinster and Bristol Bears.
"I want to play rugby to the best of my ability for as long as possible, that means putting in performances for the Dragons," he told BBC Sport Wales.
"But the mentor role is something I'm enjoying. There'll be lads away with the international team but a lot of lads knocking on the door (for Wales).
"Hopefully that experience can help those boys knock the door down and flourish as Test players, but we're only three games in and it's baby steps."
Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan paid tribute to Roberts' performance behind closed doors at Rodney Parade.
"It was great, I wish there'd been people here to see it, I know his dad would have loved to have been here to watch that," he said.
"He was direct, difficult to get down, gave the team shape and he was great commanding people round defensively - a great Jamie Roberts."
Roberts' return to the city of his birth to play, and the announcement that his partner is expecting their first child, comes in a whirlwind year in which he cut short his spell in South Africa because of the Covid-19 pandemic and carried out public relations work for the NHS in Cardiff.
He then saw his Dragons debut delayed by contracting a mild bout of coronavirus himself.
"It's a strange year for everyone. The Pro14 has finished and we're into a new season while the English Premiership is still going," he said.
"I loved my time in Cape Town, I was gutted to leave, but it's a global pandemic and everyone's making sacrifices.
"I learned so much there and hopefully I can transfer those experiences to the lads here."
Dragons next face Ulster away on Sunday, 25 October.