Brave fightback falls short in Europe
Back row Taine Basham grabbed a try on his 100th game but a brave fightback from Dragons came up short against Montpellier in the EPCR Challenge Cup opener at Rodney Parade.
Playing into the face of stormy conditions in the first half, Dragons were forced to withstand a bruising opening spell as Montpellier opened up a commanding 18-0 lead as the rain lashed down.
But back came spirited Dragons with man-of-the-moment Basham going over from close range before Angus O’Brien slid over just before the break to cut the lead to 18-14.
A tight second half saw Dragons go close on several occasions – and held up once – but it was the Top 14 side who held out under pressure to take the points.
Dragons made nine changes to the side that lost out to Cardiff with youngsters including Morgan Lloyd, Josh Reynolds and Ewan Rosser called up.
Dmitri Arhip was also a late withdrawal through illness while Basham led the team out on his 100th game for the Men of Gwent.
Montpellier opened the scoring with a penalty after four minutes as both sides faced the early inset of Storm Darragh.
Playing into a blustery wind the away side doubled the lead through the accurate boot of playmaker Aurelien Barreau.
Dragons were looking to stem early pressure with Morgan Lloyd intercepting as Montpellier again looked run from deep in woeful conditions.
Montpellier, though, scored the opening try when a cross field kick found a free Thomas Darmon who fed wing Madosh Tambwe to slide over.
Centurion Basham looked to spark a fightback with a barrelling run into contact before another kick, this time from Wainwright, failed to find Rosser.
Another hacked ball through from Tambwe saw Dragons kick the ball dead and from the resulting scrum the French side added a second try from Number Eight Marco Tauleigne.
Conditions were only worsening as the half wore on as Will Reed and Angus O’Brien looked to attack from deep before Barreau made the error as he looked to control a greasy ball.
A chip ahead from Reed allowed Owen to hack into space and force the error from a retreating Tambwe as Dragons won a penalty.
The resulting tap and go from five metres saw the forwards go to work and force their way over with man of the moment Basham scoring. O’Brien converted in tricky conditions.
Screech swooped at the kick off to win a penalty at the breakdown, but the French waves of pressure kept coming as the wind appeared to drop.
Morgan Lloyd left the field just before the break after taking a heavy hit off the ball.
But it was Dragons who struck on the stroke of half time as Joe Davies brilliantly made a yard and offloaded to send O’Brien over. The full back converted his own score.
Young hooker Sam Scarfe made an early appearance at the start of the second half for Benjamin.
Ewan Rosser produced a peach of a kick to turn Montpellier as the weather continued to improve after the early downpours.
A penalty gave O’Brien a shot to cut the lead back to a point, but he saw his attempt fly wide right as the wind whipped up.
Montpellier turned to a powerful driving maul to push Dragons back, but the alert Blacker was there to dot the loose ball kicked into space down.
The home side, who introduced Seiuli and Nott into the pack, looked to apply pressure of their own as O’Brien, now playing fly half, kicked to the corner. But the French side regrouped to clear their lines.
A penalty after Seiuli was dangerously flipped in the tackle saw tempers flare and Dragons win a penalty and another chance to kick deep.
The game was up for grabs with 15 minutes to go as Dragons continued to look to build pressure and use the windy conditions to pin the visitors back.
A kick ahead from Rosser saw Tambwe kick the ball out for a five-metre lineout and Dragons drive for the line, only for Montpellier to hold the ball up from Seiuli to home anguish as the crowd chanted for the TMO.
The rain returned one more time in the final ten minutes and Drgons threw everything at the French side to no avail as they had to settle for a losing point.
Timeline:
04m Barreau p 0-3
10m Barreau p 0-6
13m Tambwe t 0-11
21m Tauleigne t Barreau c 0-18
27m Basham t O’Brien c 7-18
40m O’Brien t O’Brien c 14-18
Dragons RFC: Angus O'Brien Rio Dyer, Harry Wilson, Aneurin Owen, Ewan Rosser (J. Rosser 50), Will Reed (Evans 57), Morgan Lloyd (Blacker 39); Josh Reynolds (Seiuli 54), James Benjamin (Scarfe 43), Chris Coleman, Joe Davies (Nott 54), Matthew Screech (Langton-Cryer 69), Ryan Woodman, Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: Sam Scarfe, Aki Seiuli, Luke Yendle, George Nott, Barny Langton-Cryer, Dane Blacker, Cai Evans, Jared Rosser
Montpellier: Julien Tisseron, George Bridge, Thomas Darmon, Arthur Vincent, Madosh Tambwe, Aurelien Barreau, Alexis Bernadet; Enzo Forletta, Lyam Akrab, Mohamed Haouas, Florian Verhaeghe, Tyler DuGuid, Nicolas Martins, Youssouf Soucouna, Marco Tauleigne
Replacements: Vano Karkadze, Luca Tabarot, Wilfrid Hounkpatin, Jules Veyrier, Alex Becognee, Ryan Louwrens, Thomas Vincent, Christa Powell
Referee: Morne Ferreira (SA)
Attendance: Tickets issued 4,012
