Dragons Too Strong for Pirates

Newport Gwent Dragons continued building towards their Magners League campaign with a 20-6 victory over the Cornish Pirates.

Tries from Jamie Ringer, Gareth Wyatt and wing Matt Jess sealed the win for The Dragons along with two kicks from fly half Ceri Sweeney.

The Dragons latest signing Colin Charvis made his first appearance for the region.

Speaking after the game Head Coach Paul Turner said, "We've had a very good week. We did a bit first by training with the Pirates on Thursday, which I felt was very beneficial and we were able to put in some very good work on the training ground. We knew playing against them was going to be difficult as they are a good side. I thought we did some good things in the game. But I was a little bit unhappy with our final penalty count – I think it was four to one against in the end. That's a shame, but we'll take it on the chin and look at it again next week."

The Dragons defence stood up to a stern examination with the Pirates launching a late rally but they were restricted to only two penalty goals by Italian fly half Alberto Di Bernardo.

As well as the experienced Charvis making an appearance in a Dragons jersey, five academy players also featured during the game with Turner adding, "That's a statement in itself. We're pleased as it's a win away from home at the end of the day. However, the real business starts in two weeks time."

Jamie Ringer got on the score sheet first with a try after six minutes from a driving lineout with Sweeney adding the conversion. However, the deficit was reduced to a single point going into half time with Di Bernardo kicking two penalties. In the second half the Pirates had the majority of possession and were kept out by a resolute Dragons defence.

Gareth Wyatt picked a lovely angle between the opposition defence to score in the right hand corner while Matt Jess scored against his former club when he gathered a loose kick and won the race to the line.