The 5 year hoodoo Dragons smashed and what it meant to their Saffa star

Tinus de Beer has outlined how a one in ten chance came off to help the Dragons claim a first league win outside of Wales in five years.

It was De Beer’s audacious flicked pass over his own head that put winger David Richards in for the try which secured a dramatic last-gasp 19-18 victory over Zebre in Parma.

The decisive score came as the clock moved onto 82 minutes with the Dragons having pounded away in a final play which lasted more than three minutes.

It earned them their first away win in the URC since they beat the Scarlets in Llanelli in April 2022 while it was their first league success outside Wales since they defeated Connacht in Galway in October 2021.

South African fly-half De Beer, who also produced an instant flip pass in the build-up to Jared Rosser’s opening try, was named Player of the Match.

Giving his take on the winning score, he said: “I was thinking get the ball to Dai and if there was any chance of getting it to him with an overhead flick it might be the right time now.

“So I tried it and luckily it came off. It probably comes off once in ten! But it stuck this time, so I am happy with that.”

Reflecting on how the Dragons dug deep for the win at the death, De Beer said: “It’s what this team is about.

“We care for each other and you could see that out there. “We were down and out in some facets of the game, but we got together, we got a plan and we found a solution to win. We are happy with that.

“We showed some massive fight and we can just be massively proud of how we stuck it out and got the away win.”

Echoing these thoughts, head coach Filo Tiatia said: “There is a lot of grit and character in this group and that has been building for a long time.

“I’m really proud of the players for the resolve and resilience they showed to fight right until the end.”

It was the Dragons’ second victory in Parma in the space of 13 days following on from their EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-final win over Zebre a fortnight ago.

They will now be in good spirits heading into next Sunday’s Euro semi-final clash with Montpellier out in France.

“Semi-finals don’t come around often,” said De Beer.

“We will prepare well this week, we will work hard and we will crack on.”