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Dean Ryan grabs first big PRO14 scalp
By Online Editors
The Dragons enjoyed a first Rodney Parade win of the calendar year in the Guinness PRO14 after upsetting Glasgow 18-5 in rain-soaked Newport. Dean Ryan’s side headed into half-time with just a 6-0 lead after playing with the wind at their backs but struck swiftly through flanker Taine Basham and wing Ashton Hewitt to take command.
The Warriors tried desperately to work their way back into the contest but made far too many errors. Only when the clock was in the red did centre Huw Jones go over as the Dragons celebrated a first victory in the league on home soil since beating the Ospreys on December 30.
Glasgow, who headed south amid speculation of boss Dave Rennie leaving for the Australia top job, have now lost three of four fixtures and are yet to find their rhythm in a bid to go one better than they did in the PRO14 last season. The Dragons, meanwhile, are two from four and this was director of rugby Ryan’s first big scalp since taking the reins in Newport.
The Dragons started brightly with the wind at their backs but a fifth-minute penalty from fly-half Sam Davies was all they managed in the first quarter. Full-back Jordan Williams came closest with a chip and chase, the ball just sneaking over the dead ball line despite his despairing slide, but it was an error-strewn encounter.
A penalty for holding on, earned by impressive back rower Ollie Griffiths, earned the Dragons a shot at goal after 34 minutes and Davies made it 6-0 from just inside the Glasgow half. The Warriors were content to go to the break with a six-point deficit, safe in the knowledge the conditions would be in their favour in the second half.
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However, the Dragons were 13-0 up three minutes after the restart after flanker Basham powered over from close range after a break by wing Hewitt, Davies adding the conversion.
The lead stretched to 18-0 with half an hour to go after a comedy of Glasgow errors with fly-half Brandon Thomson charged down and then wing Kyle Steyn losing his footing when chasing a hacked-on ball over the line, gifting a five-pointer to Hewitt.
Glasgow needed a fast response but instead, the clock ticked past the hour with the Dragons in command and happy to slow things down. The Warriors mood was not helped when lock Kiran McDonald had a try chalked off for an illegal clear-out in the build-up before Scotland centre Jones slid over.
- Press Association
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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