Mixed fortunes for George North as Ashton Hewitt rescues late draw for Dragons at Ospreys
George North scored the opening try of the Ospreys’ first game in 184 days, but seven minutes later saw red in the 20-20 draw with the Dragons at the Liberty Stadium. It means the Wales and British & Irish Lions wing faces the prospect of another month or more on the sidelines ahead of Wales’ scheduled Six Nations clash with Scotland at the end of next month.
North barged two men off to score the first try of the Guinness Pro14 contest in the seventh minute but then got his timing wrong as he challenged opposite number Ashton Hewitt at the kick-off following the Dragons wing’s 20-metre dash to the home try line moments earlier.
As Hewitt jumped high to catch the ball, North got underneath him and sent the Dragons’ player into a complete somersault before landing on his neck.
Referee Adam Jones had no option other than to dismiss the Wales wing for the first time in his career after replaying the incident on the big screen.
The day after the Scarlets had beaten the Blues in Llanelli, Wales head coach Wayne Pivac was allowed to run his eye over the rest of his home-grown talent.
However, it was an import – former England outside half Stephen Myler – who got the scoreboard moving.
The new recruit from London Irish bagged the first points under the Ospreys’ new head coach Toby Booth with a third minute penalty and then added the extras to the North try.
Hewitt’s quick response was converted by Ospreys old boy Sam Davies and then the Dragons went ahead. Giant prop Leon Brown crashed through one tackle, raced 20 metres and then carried Dan Evans over the line to claim a rare try and make it 12-10 to the visitors.
Myler slotted another penalty before Kieran Williams created the space to send hooker Scott Otten racing 20 metres to the posts for a second home try that Myler again improved.
On the stroke of half-time Davies cut the gap to five points with a penalty, to keep the game hanging in the balance.
The Ospreys’ 14 men were denied a try at the start of the second half when a forward was held up over the line and Myler was wide with a reasonable penalty shot.
It looked as though another former Ospreys player, full-back Dafydd Howells, had levelled the scores with a 71st-minute try. However, after studying the video the officials found he had lost control of the ball as he went over the line and ruled out the score.
The Dragons continued to press home their numerical advantage and it finally told in the 79th minute when they worked Hewitt over for a try in the left corner.
That levelled the scores and Davies’ conversion was just wide to leave the spoils shared.
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John, McKenzie was 10 years ago and he only lasted 15 months until the disgustingly unfair affair that brought him down. I thought that if he didn't get another gig over Eddie V2 then he was done. I read that he had been approached but declined to put his name in the ring.
There are no potential Wallaby coaches outside of McKellar unless you have some inside info?
Go to commentsThe way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.
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