Dragons up and running in PRO14 with home win against Zebre
The Dragons grabbed their first victory of the new Guinness PRO14 season but were made to fight all the way by Zebre at Rodney Parade, winning 26-18.
Two tries from full-back Jordan Williams and one each from centre Jamie Roberts and hooker Elliot Dee, plus two penalties from stand-off Sam Davies, saw the Dragons home.
But Zebre came back to cause the Dragons trouble throughout the match and crossed for tries at the end of each half from centres Federico Mori and Giulio Bisegni.
Fly-half Carlo Canna converted one and added two penalties to the Italians’ total.
There would have been a few heads scratched in the Dragons dressing room at half-time after scoring three tries but finding themselves only five points ahead.
Other than the start and end of the period, Zebre were mainly on the defensive, while gaps in their line plus a ferocious home attack – both among the forwards and back division – saw the Dragons dominate the half.
Jordan Williams was on fire as he grabbed the first of three touchdowns for the Dragons in the opening period when Roberts made ground to the line and skipper and scrum-half Rhodri Williams fed his full-back to romp home.
Zebre nearly went over themselves midway through the half, but back up at the other end the Dragons turned the screw.
They squandered one chance for a try and lost a turnover on the Zebre line for another, but eventually a run from halfway by their full-back set up the move that eventually led to Roberts taking the ball five metres out and finding the gap to dive over for his first Dragons try.
Canna cut the deficit with an easy penalty, but Dee got the home side’s third try when he emerged from a pile of bodies after a ruck.
"I’m scared s***less to be quite frank with you"https://t.co/HlFNn6vTzf
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 9, 2020
None of the tries were converted by Davies, while Zebre wing Mattia Bellini did his side no favours when he interfered at a ruck and got himself sin-binned.
But, from a seemingly comfortable 15-3 up, the Dragons found themselves with a real game on as a loose ball near the Zebre 10-metre line was booted up field by Mori.
The centre followed up and kept kicking on until eventually picking up a metre from the home line and scoring a try that Canna converted.
And, just after the break, a 39-metre penalty from Canna brought Zebre within two points, before Jordan Willaims waltzed through a gap on the right for his second try and the Dragons’ bonus point.
Davies hit the post for a third time with the conversion but, at last, landed a kick when booting a 42-metre penalty, adding another penalty eight minutes from time.
Zebre fought to the last and managed a consolation try from Bisegni – on his 100th appearance for the visitors – to finish off the game.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments