Dragons v Scarlets Match Report
The side ran in five tries altogether with them coming from Harrison Keddie, Carl Meyer, Captain Nick Crosswell and two from centre Sam Beard.
This is the Dragons third win in a row at Rodney Parade after overcoming Connacht in the Guinness PRO12 and CA-Brive in the Euorpean Rugby Challenge Cup.
It was the victors who added the first six points to the board thanks to the boot of fly-half Dan Jones. The Dragons added their own three points to the board thanks to a lineout drive, and Angus O’Brien’s boot.
Another penalty went the Scarlets way to extend their lead to 9-3 after 20 minutes on the clock. Ten minutes passed and on the half an hour marker saw a try from the Dragons. A quick tap and go from scrum-half Sarel Pretorius saw the Dragons move into the Scarlets 22, and through more agile from fly-half Angus O’Brien an offload to Sam Beard saw the centre cross for his first Anglo-Welsh try. O’Brien converted the try which saw the Dragons move into a lead of 10-9.
With half-time approaching, the Scarlets made their final move with hooker Dafydd Hughes crashing over the whitewash. A chip over the heads of the Dragons defence saw Gareth Owen collect and push towards the whitewash, only for the forwards to push over and Hughes score. Dan Jones converted to push the Scarlets into lead of 16-10.
Half Time: Newport Gwent Dragons 10 – Scarlets 16
The first five minutes of the second half saw referee Mike Adamson show red to Scarlets flanker Jack Condy, due to an off the ball offence. This gave the Dragons the upper hand and they took their chance.
Skipper Nick Crosswell crossed soon after the Dragons were denied their second try, after the ball was deemed to be out of play. He crossed over during the advantage. With O’Brien adding the extras, the Dragons took the lead 17-16. Following this try full-back Carl Myer crossed for his own try thanks to a lovely kick which bounced his way, O’Brien once again made no mistake to extend the Dragons lead to 24-16.
The Scarlets weren’t deterred as wing Corey Baldwin raced to collect a kick and cross to narrow the score. However youngster Harrison Keddie secured the bonus point with a close range try.
Centre Sam Beard finished the night off with a fifth try, his second, with replacement Arwel Robson converting.
Final Scores: Newport Gwent Dragons 36 – Scarlets 21
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRFU)
Attendance: 3539
