Wasteful Dragons give Lions a scare in Johannesburg
The Dragons were made to rue wasted opportunities as they suffered their first defeat in three matches in a battling 33-25 United Rugby Championship loss at the hands of the Lions in Johannesburg.
Prior to Sunday’s fixture, the hosts had won all three of their away fixtures but suffered defeats in each of their three matches at Emirates Airline Park.
The Dragons failed to make the most of an early Lions yellow card, and Ruhan Straeuli’s try combined with 14 points from the boot of Jordan Hendrikse had the home side 19-6 up at the interval.
Sio Tomkinson went over with the Lions down to 14 men again early in the second period, but Hendrikse’s touchdown kept the visitors at arm’s length.
James Benjamin’s try showed the Dragons were still in the fight, but JP Smith effectively wrapped up the win and Che Hope’s late score served only as consolation, as the Welsh region fell just short of a bonus point.
A pair of Hendrikse penalties, either side of a Sam Davies effort, gave the Lions an early lead.
However, it was the visitors who were arguably enjoying the better of possession, and the Lions had Emmanuel Tshituka sin-binned for a trip after 15 minutes.
Davies, who had played a central role in a move that saw the Dragons get agonisingly close to the Lions’ line just prior to Tshituka’s departure, then added his second penalty to pull the scores level.
Hendrikse then sent over a drop goal in the 28th minute, before Quan Horn’s 50:22 gave the Lions territory that ultimately led to the game’s first try.
Ross Moriarty saw yellow for collapsing a maul and Straeuli eventually crashed over to open up some daylight on the scoreboard, with Hendrikse’s conversion and a subsequent penalty making it 19-6 at the break.
The Lions lost Henco van Wyk to the sin bin early in the second half after his shoulder made contact with the head of Joe Davies.
The Dragons quickly made their hosts pay, with Tomkinson collecting Sam Davies’ cross-kick to go over in the corner.
The fly-half was unable to add the extras and the Lions re-established their cushion when Hendrikse went twisting and turning over the line before converting his own score.
Moriarty was dispossessed at the crucial moment as a promising Dragons move came to nothing, before Aki Seiuli failed to keep hold of the ball as he leapt over a ruck on the Lions’ line.
Benjamin eventually crossed for the Dragons’ second try from a maul, and JJ Hanrahan’s conversion had the Welsh region within eight.
The match looked all but won when Smith burrowed over soon after, with Gianni Lombard adding the extras, but there was still time for Hope to touch down and Hanrahan to make it 33-25.
Comments on RugbyPass
Crusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
1 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
3 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
3 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
1 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
11 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
18 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
3 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
3 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
11 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
11 Go to commentsWho’d have thought, not having Farrell & Youngs kicking the ball at every possible opportunity and playing flat and allowing your centres to run and pass would pay off? No one could possibly have seen this coming. FML. It took a LONG time coming but at least that time has finally come. England need to find a backup to Lawrence. Freeman is the best candidate for me, I see no reason why he can't play 12. He's big, strong, fast and has great hands.
11 Go to commentsLove Manu but he's not the player he was and I imagine Bayonne have paid too much money for him.
3 Go to commentsNew Zealand have not beaten England since 2018 and even that was a pretty close shave.
1 Go to comments“a renewed focus on Scottish-qualified players” Scottish-qualified is another way of saying English. England has development more players for the Scotland national Rugby team in the last 4 years, than Scotland has.
2 Go to comments