PAUL Turner has hailed the appointment of Bernard Jackman as Newport Gwent Dragons head coach as a “statement of intent” by the Welsh Rugby Union.

The governing body, who will take over control of the Dragons on July 1, announced on Monday that former Ireland hooker Jackman is replacing Kingsley Jones as boss at Rodney Parade.

The 41-year-old heads to Newport after spending the last six years with Grenoble in France and was recommended for the role by his former coach Warren Gatland after a WRU-led review into the Dragons’ coaching set-up.

Jackman is the first non-Welsh boss the Dragons have had since Chris Anderson in 2004/5, the Australian rugby league coach who was succeeded by Turner.

The former fly-half called the shots between 2005 and 2011 and is hopeful that Jackman can prosper in a new era and fresh set-up.

“It came out of the blue but I think it’s a good appointment,” said Turner. “The WRU are taking over and this is a statement of intent that has come at the right time.

“I was a little bit surprised they made the change but it probably had to happen and now they can move forward.

“Bernard’s qualities will be that he is a good organiser and now he has the chance to start with a clean sheet of paper at the Dragons with the good backing from the Union.

“I don’t think there will be any miracles this season and it might be more of a settling down period but with a fair share of optimism.

“The Dragons have to go about their business of looking to bolster their squad with quality over time, which is difficult given that everyone is trying to do that.

“Things won’t happen immediately but there is a good feeling there and Bernard will have some backing, which was never the case before.”

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Turner, who was inducted into the Newport RFC hall of fame earlier this year and also played for his hometown club Newbridge, Crumlin and Pontypool, believes the change of ownership can enable the region to flourish.

The WRU have announced that they will drop Newport and Gwent from the name to become solely the Dragons from July while there will be fresh blood in the boardroom.

“I just feel that Bernard will be able to work without the other pressures that we all had to get involved with,” said Turner.

“The key for the Dragons is to get it more region-based, that’s something that’s always been a major question with everybody having different opinions but the Union have been pretty open about the way they see things going.”

Jackman is likely to be leaning on his predecessor for some advice on potential signings in the future as Turner works part-time on the WRU’s exiles programme while also coaching Ampthill in England’s National League One.

The governing body’s chief executive Martyn Phillips has previously talked about their intent to use the Dragons to “repatriate emerging exiled talent”.