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Dragons begin their Rainbow Cup campaign with bonus-point win over Scarlets

By PA
Jonah Holmes (Getty Images)

Dragons started their Rainbow Cup campaign with a 52-32 bonus-point win over Welsh rivals Scarlets.

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac was at Rodney Parade to see a total of 12 tries, seven of which came from the Dragons, who were deserved winners.

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Glenn Delaney’s Scarlets were not at the races and paid the price in a match which had the feel of a pre-season encounter.

Dragons took the lead with a neat try from Jonah Holmes. The ball was spread right to Holmes who had Jonathan Davies coming across to cover.

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Davies should have done better and his missed tackle was crucial.

Scarlets hit back immediately with a try from debutant flanker Iestyn Rees, after they stripped the ball and Steffan Evans raced away. Sam Costelow converted.

Dragons pair Rio Dyer and Ross Moriarty made electric breaks in response and from the second of those runs, Jordan Williams went over in the corner. Sam Davies’ conversion went over via a post.

Costelow narrowed the gap with a simple penalty as the Scarlets lost Morgan Jones and Tom Rogers to first-half injuries.

Dragons made it three just before the break when Aaron Wainwright went over.

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Scarlets used their captain’s challenge – one of three new law trials being used in the Rainbow Cup – to question the decision, but the try was approved by TMO Dan Jones.

There was still time for two more Scarlets tries before the break.

First, Evans went over after Angus O’Brien and Dane Blacker broke clear.

Then it was scrum-half Blacker who scored after he spotted a gap close to the ruck and used his pace well.

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Blacker then did well to send Ryan Elias over, but the try was ruled out for a forward pass.

Holmes made a stunning break, which included a pirouette, when the game resumed and Davies nailed a penalty from the field position. Blacker stayed a threat too.

The tries kept coming and Dragons were the next to score.

Dyer started and finished the move after Evan Lloyd did well to kick ahead. Davies nailed the kick.

Dragons captain Rhodri Williams looked certain to score as he raced into the corner, but his acrobatic attempt to finish failed under pressure from Johnny McNicholl.

It didn’t matter as Owen went over immediately after, with Lloyd involved again in the build-up and Davies improved the score. Holmes then danced past a poor Evans tackle to score.

Evans did go over in the 68th minute and McNicholl intercepted Owen’s pass to race clear and score, as the tries kept coming.

Wainwright then grabbed his second of the afternoon from close range and Davies nailed two late penalties including one from halfway to make the game safe.

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f
fl 1 hour ago
Springboks' dominance of the world rankings comes under increased threat

good comment, but ranking points being doubled during the RWC won’t actually have the effect you’re implying.


You still only lose ranking points if you’re beaten by a team that you could conceivably beat, hence why Italy lose no points when beaten by South Africa. Wales entering the RWC in 2027 in a group full of teams better than them would mean that they would lose no points, or only a very small amount of points, by being beaten, but would have the potential to drastically improve their ranking with just a single upset win.


E.g. using today’s ranking points, lets imagine Wales drew Ireland, Fiji, and Romania in their pool, losing against the first two but beating Romania, then lost to France in the R16. The worst case scenario (losing to Fiji, Ireland, and France by more than 15 points, and beating Romania by less than 15) would only lose Wales 0.66 points. The alternate scenario (coming within 15 points of Fiji and beating Romania by more than 15) would lose Wales just 0.29 points. The dream scenario of Wales securing a narrow win over Fiji would improve Wales’ score by 3.37 points, although I cba factoring in how that would impact Wales’ draw in the knockouts. Feel free to check these calculations yourself at the website called “World Rugby Rankings Calculator”, which is easily found through google but which I don’t think I can link to directly on here.


Its worth remembering that England finished 3rd at the world cup and Ireland lost in the QFs, but because England had a much easier draw than Ireland they finished the tournament ranked 5th, and Ireland 2nd. Overall the rankings do a pretty great job of fairly reflecting how well teams have played.

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