Deadly Dyer brace as Dragons soar
Dragons RFC kept their hopes of securing knockout rugby in the EPCR Challenge Cup alive as superb second half show beat Newcastle Red Bulls - making it four wins on the spin at Rodney Parade.
Wing Rio Dyer scored a brace on the way to an all-important bonus try victory which leaves Filo Tiata’s side on the brink of qualifying in Europe for the first time since 2023.
Dragons maul play was vital in securing victory in what was a must win game in the hunt for European qualification as further tries from Brodie Coghlan, a penalty try and late score from David Richards had Rodney rocking.
The Men of Gwent knew the importance of the game and a bright start saw a lot of early pressure put on an organised Newcastle defence.
Dragons controlled possession and turned it into points when a bursting Dyer broke the deadlock with his second try in as many games.
The home side had turned down the option of kicking for goal and the resulting lineout found Aneurin Owen who’s quick offload left Dyer to race through and put Dragons ahead on the half hour mark.
The lead, though, didn’t last long with a Newcastle counter-attack eventually leading to Argentine scrum half Simon Benitez Cruz scoring in the corner.
Newcastle then took the lead with a misplaced cross-field kick only found Christian Wade who finished a counter with a 70-yard sprint down the right.
Ethan Grayson converted to leave Newcastle in the driving seat after two tries in as many minutes.
Dragons started the second half in a similar vein to the first with an avalanche of pressure on Newcastle’s backline.
They appeared to breach the defence when a quick Aaron Wainwright offload set Brodie Coughlan free, but after TMO review he was deemed to of been stopped just short of the try line.
Newcastle lost Jamie Hodgson to a yellow card after a high shot and, as Dragons pressure grew, an excellent attacking move led to a third try of the day.
A superb line break pass by Tongan Fine Inisi set Dyer away to burst through again to impressively put Dragons 21-12 up.
Dragons didn’t stop there and, after more outstanding maul play, referee Christopher Allison awarded a penalty try to put the home side in control.
A late Richards try cemented a successful night for Dragons as he burst down the right and strongly finished.
Timeline:
31m Dyer t O’Brien c 7-0
35m Benitez Cruz t 7-5
37m Wade t Grayson c 7-12
49m Coghlan t O’Brien c 14-12
54m Dyer t O’Brien c 21-12
69m Penalty t 28-12
79m Richards t O'Brien c 35-12
Dragons RFC: Angus O'Brien, David Richards, Fine Inisi (Ackerman 73), Aneurin Owen, Rio Dyer, Tinus de Beer (Evans 65), Che Hope (Williams 65); Wyn Jones (Martinez 51), Brodie Coghlan (Roberts 62), Robert Hunt (Dlamini 73), Ryan Woodman (Lewis-Hughes 62), Ben Carter, Harrison Keddie, Thomas Young (Douglas 51), Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: George Roberts, Rodrigo Martinez, Cebo Dlamini, Levi Douglas, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Rhodri Williams, Harri Ackerman, Cai Evans
Newcastle Red Bulls: Elliott Obatoyinbo, Christian Wade, Sammy Arnold, Cammy Hutchison, Alex Hearle, Ethan Grayson, Simon Benitez Cruz; Murray McCallum, George McGuigan, Richard Palframan, Oscar Usher, Jamie Hodgson, Freddie Lockwood, Tom Christie, Tom Gordon
Replacements: Ollie Fletcher, Adam Brocklebank, Luan de Bruin, Finn Baker, Reuben Parsons, James Elliott, Rhys Beeckmans, Nathan Greenwood
Referee: Christopher Allison (SA)
Attendance: 5,296
