URC Round 7 Review: Dragons end long wait for a league win

Simon Thomas

There were emotional scenes at Rodney Parade as the Dragons beat Connacht 48-28 to record their first win in the BKT URC since the opening day of last season.

They scored six tries in all, with a brace from young scrum-half Che Hope and a real Christmas cracker from Player of the Match Rio Dyer.

Speaking passionately about the win, Wales winger Dyer said: “It’s something we really deserve after everything we have been through over the last few months. We have worked so hard.

“I know we have all the scepticism outside of the rugby, but we are such a tight knit group. Despite all the stuff going on in Welsh rugby, we have all stayed tight.

“We continued to pile the pressure on and we got the result we wanted. It’s amazing.”

After waiting all year for a win, the Dragons now have two in as many weeks, having beaten Lyon in the Challenge Cup six days earlier.

Explaining the turnaround, flanker Shane Lewis-Hughes said: “In the end, we just had to look ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves are we doing everything we can to be the best team we possibly can and for the fans that come out every single week, no matter what.

“It’s the pay back to them, but also respect for ourselves and our families who come to watch us every week.

“We are immensely proud of that performance.

“We have come on leaps and bounds. We have been hurting for a while as a team, but with that performance, we showed the pride. We just need to build from here now.”

Second row Ben Carter added: “We might not have had a win for a very long time, but there’s been some good performances and people don’t really notice those.

“The win we got last week gave us a bit of confidence and it was nice to get a convincing one now.

“It’s definitely going to be one of my best memories here. It feels amazing.”

Momentum

Giving his verdict on the change in fortunes, head coach Filo Tiatia said: “It’s been brewing for a while.

“We played with momentum, we played with confidence and moved the ball a little bit more than we are used to. We just wanted the players to play a lot freer than where they have been.

“We hadn’t won a league game for a little while. The last one was against the Ospreys in our first hit last season.

“It’s about building confidence and creating habits that pros need to grow. We have a lot of young guys in our group and they are getting better every day.”

Scarlets star Davies does it again at the Arms Park

Try machine Gareth Davies continued his love affair with the Arms Park as he played a pivotal role in the Scarlets turning the URC table on its head.

The west Wales region went into their opening festive derby in bottom spot while Cardiff were flying high in second place and unbeaten at their home ground since January.

But it was the visitors who came out on top 21-17 with Player of the Match Davies scoring two tries for the third season in a row at the Arms Park.

The veteran scrum-half escaped down the left touchline for his first and then pulled off a trademark interception as he picked off a pass from opposite number Aled Davies at a lineout and sprinted home from 65 metres.

He may be 35 now, but he still had the gas to stay clear of the chasing defenders.

His try double takes his career tally in the URC up to 57, with only Tommy Bowe (67), Craig Gilroy (59), Tim Visser and DTH Van der Merwe (both 58) now ahead of him on the all-time list.

Speaking after the game, the 77-cap Davies said: “I enjoy a couple of tries at the Arms Park. I enjoy playing here.

“It was a good game of rugby, a good arm wrestle in the first half.

“Cardiff threw everything at us and we were down to 13 men for ten minutes, but we weathered the storm.

“I thought we played well in the second half and deserved the win.

“Peely (head coach Dwayne Peel) said at half-time that we were going to get rewarded for our defensive effort in the first half and we saw it out in the end.

“Cardiff are a good outfit. They have been playing some good rugby this year.

“They are second in the league and we were bottom, so probably nobody thought we were going to come here and win, so we’re happy with that.”

‘Red Wine’

Paying tribute to former Wales No 9 Davies, Scarlets forwards coach Albert van den Berg said: “It’s like red wine, you know. Some players as they get older, they get better.

“Gareth showed his experience again out there and he’s still got the speed to finish that interception try off.”

Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel added: “I can’t speak highly enough about him because he’s the ultimate professional and keeps himself in great shape.

“He said to me before the game he fancied another double, so he backed that up.”

It was an eventful night for Davies all round as he was one of three Scarlets players to be sin-binned, for a deliberate knock-on in his case.

Those yellow cards contributed to the visitors spending much of the night on the back foot – with their opponents having 67% territory and 59% possession – but their determined defence, along with Davies’ tries, saw them come out on top.

Van den Berg said: “Credit to the boys, they stuck in there, even when they were down to 13 guys.

“They worked hard for each other and that showed through. We know what we stand for, what our ethos is and the boys really competed.

“We knew it was going to be physical and a tough game for us and the boys manned up. Everyone put a good shift in. Fortunately, when the final whistle blew, the score was a nice one.”

Cardiff captain Liam Belcher said there will be an honest review of a game where they failed to turn pressure into points.

“I think it’s a reality check in the sense we have been flying,” said the hooker

“We are not happy with that, I have got to be honest with you. That’s not what we are about.

“We had 22 entries into their 22 and I think they had two into ours.

“The Scarlets are a gritty team. You take your hat off to them. They were the better team in the sense of capitalising on opportunities.

“It’s a lesson for us. We have had systems in place close to the line where we have been good all season.

“But, being honest, we probably went too individual.

“We will have a review and it has to be an honest one, probably more from players.

“The coaches did their job. They put a game plan in place. When you have 22 entries, that’s not on the coaches, that’s on players.

“Hopefully, we can write the wrongs on Boxing Day against the Dragons.”

Stormers stretch their lead

On a weekend of derbies, one all-South African affair saw the DHL Stormers extend their lead at the top of the table while the other drew a landmark full house.

The Stormers claimed a 34-27 bonus point victory over the Lions in Cape Town to make it seven out of seven in the URC and nine out of nine in all competitions.

They were made to work for their latest success, trailing 17-10 at the break, but in the end they got the job done, running in four tries with the league’s top points scorer Jurie Matthee slotting six kicks at goal and flanker Paul de Villiers picking up yet another Player of the Match award.

Head coach John Dobson said: “There’s something in this group. We don’t have a squad full of big names. It’s just a bunch of guys willing to work for each other and do the ugly, unseen stuff.

“That was a tough derby and we’ll be better for the lessons we take from it. We’re doing an amazing job, but we’re not quite there yet.”

Over in Durban, a capacity crowd of 44,517 saw the Hollywoodbets Sharks beat the Vodacom Bulls 21-12, with Kings Park sold out for a domestic clash for the first time since 2012.

It was a tight affair which was settled in the closing stages by Springboks Siya Kolisi and Edwill van der Merwe crossing for the hosts.

As for the big Scottish derby, that ended with Glasgow Warriors securing a 24-12 bonus point victory over Edinburgh Rugby at Hampden Park in the first leg of the 1872 Cup.

The Player of the Match award went to Glasgow’s try-scoring flanker Rory Darge who said: “I loved it. I missed playing at Hampden last year, so to experience it for the first time was awesome.

“I thought Edinburgh were really physical. It was a typical derby match and we are delighted to get the win.”

It was Benetton Rugby who came out on top in the Italian showdown as they defeated Zebre Parma 21-15 in Treviso with the boot of fly-half Jacob Umaga proving the difference between the sides.

Meanwhile, Munster Rugby marked their first visit to Bridgend’s Brewery Field in 24 years by claiming a 26-10 bonus point victory over the Ospreys to move up to second in the URC table.

In Friday night’s Irish derby, Leinster Rugby made it five wins in a row in all competitions as they came from 17-7 down at half-time to beat Ulster Rugby 24-20 in Belfast.

It was replacement hooker Dan Sheehan who claimed the match-winning try six minutes from time, a score that also secured a bonus point for the reigning league champions.

The Player of the Match award was picked up by Leinster No 8 Jack Conan who confirmed it had been a full on contest.

“It was a proper Test match out there,” he said.

“It was unbelievably tough. It’s great. You couldn’t ask much more than being here this time of the year for an interpro.

“Fair play to Ulster. They have been going really well and they really stuck in it.

“For us, it was about being calm and backing the system and not panicking too much.

“It was a case of they will have their purple patch, we will have our moments and it’s about doing everything to the best of our ability when we get the chance to strike and I thought we did that really well.

“We’ve probably been guilty of not playing our best the last while, but I thought we put some lovely bits together and showed some real resilience.”

What’s coming next?

The festive fun continues with six derby matches over Christmas in Round 8.

Boxing Day sees two all-Welsh encounters, with Cardiff welcoming the Dragons to the Arms Park and the Scarlets hosting the Ospreys.

Then the following day, there are four more fixtures.

Second placed Munster face resurgent Leinster at Limerick’s Thomond Park, while Connacht take on Ulster in Galway. There are also the return legs of the Scottish and Italian derbies.