A Developmental Dragons XV endured a hard encounter at Sixways last night, going down 45-10 to a virtually full strength Worcester Warriors outfit.
The Dragons have a hectic pre-season schedule in which they had three games in seven days, Cornish Pirates, Worcester Warriors and London Irish respectively, not to mention the Martyn Williams Testimonial match against the Cardiff Blues a week Friday. As a result a development side made up of Dragons players and Premiership players from within the region was selected for this mid-week encounter.
It was a noble performance by the young Dragons XV and will put a number of its Black and Amber contingent in good stead ahead of Newport’s tie with the Warriors in the British and Irish Cup later this year.
The Dragons got off to a bright start with Rhys Jones opening the scoring with a well-struck penalty. But Worcester quickly responded with the first of three unanswered tries. First Aleki Lutui crossed the line and he was then joined by Alex Crockett and Jonny Arr who both touched down.
The young Dragons were able to strike back with a try of their own. After some fine work at the breakdown the ball was turned-over in the Dragons twenty-two, enabling Pat Leach to race clear and put 18-year-old Jonathan Evans over to score.
However any hopes of a Dragons comeback were dashed with a quick-fire pair of Warriors’ tries before half time, courtesy of Crockett and Matt Kvesic, giving Worcester a 33-10 lead at the break.
The second half was a closer affair, with just Marcel Garvey and Chris Pennell crossing the line to score. However on 72-minutes the game was called to an end after Worcester captain, Pennell, was stretchered off with a serious leg injury.
Despite the heavy defeat the game was a good exercise for the latest crop of young Dragons and a number of individuals put in impressive performances.
Dragons’ Head Coach, Paul Turner, said: “It was a tough night. It was a fixture we had to fulfil and with three games in a week we chose to field a development side.
“We have to look at the positives, it was a good exercise for our young players and we are always keen to see these guys play at a higher level.
“Worcester fielded quite a strong side and it was always going to be tough, but I felt there were plenty of positives.
“Guys like Jevon Groves, Rob Nash, Andrew Brown, Alex Jones, Jonathan Evans and Alan Awcock did well and I think the centre pairing of Pat Leach and Adam Hughes acquitted themselves well.
“It is early in the season and it is in these games that you really find out a lot about these players when they play in this environment
“It is good to test the players and if you look in the forwards our two young locks were up against two second rows who played in the Guinness Premiership last year. These are the type of fixtures young players need to play in.
“The game also gave Newport a very good insight into their British and Irish Cup opposition.”
London Irish are next up in the Dragons pre-season schedule with the Exiles visiting Rodney Parade on Saturday.
Speaking of the fixture, Turner added: “We have struggled with a few injuries but the focus is now on the new season with Connacht first up. We want to get some players back and need to pick up some form.
“London Irish will be a big test. They have a big squad and they have made their intentions clear.
“It is definitely another notch up from the Cornish Pirates game. They got a good win against London Welsh and did well in the Middlesex Sevens last weekend; they could have and maybe should have won in the final.
“With guys like the Armitage boys, Hodgson and Tagicakibau they will definitely be a step up and a big test for us.”
