BERNARD Jackman says another Guinness PRO14 humbling shows why the Dragons squad needs a drastic rebuild – with a signing that could “cause a stir” in the pipeline.

The region’s winless streak in the league was stretched with a comprehensive 25-12 loss to Edinburgh in Ebbw Vale on Friday night.

The Dragons haven’t triumphed in the PRO14 since beating the Kings in September and now head to Port Elizabeth aiming to avoid the ignominy of becoming the South Africans’ first scalp since joining the European competition.

Head coach Jackman has so far made seven signings for next season – back rower Ross Moriarty and hooker Richard Hibbard from Gloucester, flanker/lock Huw Taylor from Worcester, scrum-half Rhodri Williams and utility back Jordan Williams from Bristol, fly-half Josh Lewis from Ebbw Vale and scrum-half Rhodri Davies from Rotherham – and his recruitment drive continues.

He says the 11-game league run without victory, after promising signs in the early months, shows that a big squad overhaul is needed.

“We haven’t pushed on this season and thankfully there is a rebuild happening,” said the Irishman, who replaced Kingsley Jones last summer.

“If we were going into next season with the same squad I’d be worried but we saw early doors that we didn’t have enough depth and quality.

“We went to address that and it is ongoing. It’s not as though we are surprised, you always hope that things will go better than you predict but the reality was that we needed to rebuild and start from pretty much scratch.

“That is where we are at. We just need to keep working hard until the end of the season, get the reinforcements in and become a team that is competitive.”

Three of his signings – Moriarty, Hibbard and Rhodri Williams – have played Test rugby with Wales and Jackman wants more caps on his roster.

“We are bringing in players who have played international level,” he said. “When you have internationals in your squad it’s just a matter of giving them a little bit of direction and changing the focus point.

“We are looking to bring in international-quality players because they help you win games, it’s not rocket science.

“They get paid the most money, they win games, they control games. If you don’t have enough of them you are going to struggle.

“Recruitment is going really well. Over the next couple of weeks I would like to have two or three more, one of which will cause quite a stir.”