Pau pain as Dragons defeated in Europe

Dragons RFC’s bid for knockout rugby suffered a blow as French side Section Paloise wrapped up a 24-15 win in the EPCR Challenge Cup at Rodney Parade.

Number Eight Aaron Wainwright grabbed a first half try as the home side trailed by a point at the break.

However, in the second half it was the Top 14 side who took control and pulled clear.

That leaves qualification in Pool 2 for the Men of Gwent all riding on the final game with Emirates Lions – a winner takes all showdown in Johannesburg next weekend.

Dragons were forced into a late change, with an ill Shane Lewis-Hughes replaced by Wainwright in a back row reshuffle.

An early TMO intervention, after Cai Evans stayed down and was replaced by Lloyd Evans, saw Thibaut Hamonou yellow carded for Pau.

But after a period of pressure a scrum penalty saw the French side clear and avert any early danger.

Pau responded with a period of pressure themselves as twice they kicked to the corner and eventually won a penalty that Axel Desperes slotted for the lead.

The returning Ackerman sent a marauding Basham through a gap as the centre then picked off the return as Dragons hit back, a penalty allowing Lloyd Evans to level the scores.

Cai Evans returned at full back on the quarter hour while Dyer had to be alert to run from deep after a loose pass, with the wing taken down by a high tackle to relieve French press.

The game was being closely contested by both sides as they looked for field position and to build territory, with Desperes nudging Pau back ahead.

Dragons did lose a limping Evans to injury after 25 minutes, while Wainwright started to pop up in the wide channels to try and keep Pau on the back foot.

The accurate boot of Desperes, leading scorer in the competition before the start of the round, added three more just before the half hour.

Slick hands sent Barny Langton-Cryer, on his first start for the club, into some space but his offload to scrum half Che Hope just failed to find hands.

O’Brien kept Pau at bay with his range of kicking as the Rodney Parade faithful looked to stir the home side into life with support from then terraces.

Pau opted to run from deep and were caught holding on. Hope duly went quickly and, after patient build-up, it was Wainwright who bulldozed his way over. Evans missed the conversion.

Dragons were then relieved on the stroke of half-time as an intercept was picked off and Robson’s cross kick was fumbled by Gregoire Arfeuil with the line at his mercy.

A half-time switch saw the injured O’Brien replaced by Ewan Rosser while a mistake as Dragons took the ball back dead to give Pau an early five-metre scrum. The home pack, though, came up with a big scrum penalty to avert danger.

Desperes added three more off the tee after a high tackle while Pau continued to be a menace at the breakdown to win field position.

The French side went further ahead when full back Clement Mondinat found space on the outside to score by the posts. Desperes added the extras for a 19-8 lead.

Dragons needed a quickfire response and kicked deep twice to set up a driving maul. The set play, though, saw Ackerman held up as he powered into contact.

Pau were looking to control territory as the game entered the final quarter and a penalty saw them kick to the corner to try and apply the final killer blow. The resulting maul was finished by Dan Jooste to end the game as a contest.

The home side looked to fire late shots, but Wainwright was held up in the closing ten minutes as he looked to grab his second of the afternoon.

Dyer did grab a late consolation, with Theo Attissogbe yellow card for Pau, with a smart finish but there was to be late drama.

Timeline:

12m Desperes p 0-3

14m Evans p 3-3

24m Desperes p 3-6

29m Desperes p 3-9

38m Wainwright t 8-9

47m Desperes p 8-12

53m Mondinat t Desperes c 8-19

64m Jooste t 8-24

78m Dyer t Evans c 15-24

Dragons RFC: Cai Evans (L. Evans 3-15), Rio Dyer, Joe Westwood, Harri Ackerman, Jared Rosser, Angus O’Brien (E. Rosser 40), Che Hope (Lloyd 65); Rodrigo Martinez Kelleher-Griffiths 50), Elliot Dee (Benjamin 65), Chris Coleman (Arhip 50), Joe Davies (Nott 55), Barny Langton-Cryer, George Young (Lydiate 50), Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright

Replacements: James Benjamin, Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, Dmitri Arhip, George Nott, Dan Lydiate, Morgan Lloyd, Lloyd Evans, Ewan Rosser

Section Paloise: Clément Mondinat, Theo Attissogbe, Eliott Roudil, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Gregoire Arfeuil, 10. Axel Desperes, Dan Robson; Remi Seneca, Romain Ruffenach, Jon Zabala Arrieta, 4Remi Picquette, Jimi Maximin, Mehdi Tlili, Hugo Auradou, Thibaut Hamonou

Replacements: Dan Jooste, Daniel Bibi Biziwu, Harry Williams, Victoir Templier, Loic Credoz, Thomas Souverbie, Quentin Valentino, Jack Maddocks

Referee: Aimee Barret-Theron (SA)

Attendance: Tickets issued 4,009