Dragons run riot in buoyant bonus-point win over Zebre
The Dragons’ revival continued in emphatic fashion at Rodney Parade with a five-try 47-7 trouncing of Zebre Parma. A third victory of the campaign sees the Men of Gwent occupying the relative heady heights of mid-table in the United Rugby Championship, with more wins by the end of October than the two they managed all last season.
While their supporters will have expected no less against an Italian side who arrived in Newport without a win from their first six games, the manner of this success endorsed the feeling that better days lie ahead. With former Cardiff fly-half Dai Flanagan currently in charge following the messy and as-yet-unresolved departure of Dean Ryan, the new, buoyant mood around the region is palpable.
The confidence derived from an impressive 32-25 victory against the Ospreys six days earlier was clear to see in the way the home side began the game. They monopolised possession and revelled in slick passing and probing the wider channels.
The Dragons’ opening try was a beauty. Samoan prop Aki Seiuli started the move ten metres inside his own half by stealing the ball at the breakdown and bursting forward. Wales No8 Ross Moriarty was in support and his delayed pass to Rhodri Williams on the switch saw the scrum-half gallop home underneath the posts.
The score set the tone for the rest of the first half, which saw the Dragons build a 26-7 lead. Zebre did hit back when second row Andrea Zambonin went over for a well-worked try in the 33rd minute, but other than that the hosts were firmly in the ascendancy.
A breakaway try by Dragons right wing David Richards, a product of Monmouth School, shortly before the Zambonin score put further daylight between them and Zebre. The rock-solid left boot of Sam Davies provided further ballast. The Dragons fly-half was successful with six out of six shots at goal which yielded 14 points of that interval total.
Nobody anticipated a second-half Zebre recovery and when centre Steff Hughes claimed his side’s third try in the 47th minute off a majestic run and sidestep by Wales flanker Aaron Wainwright, there was not even a distant prospect of one materialising.
Further tries from full-back Angus O’Brien, Richards again and another three conversions from Davies for a nine-out-of-nine tally for attempts at goal sealed a margin of victory that has been all too rare in this part of Wales in recent years.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments