Dragons are back in Guinness PRO14 season this weekend – and ahead of the resumption we are rewinding the season month-by-month to remind supporters of the state of play.
In this edition we go back to December and an unforgettable festive period as late drama saw Scarlets stunned at Rodney Parade.
LAST GASP DRAGONS DELIGHT BOSS
Boss Dean Ryan praised his Dragons for ‘staying in the fight’ as a last gasp drop goal from Sam Davies saw them stun Scarlets 22-20 in a pre-Christmas cracker in Guinness PRO14 at a soggy Rodney Parade.
Dragons had to battle back from a half-time deficit, as Rhodri Williams scored after tries from Gareth Davies and Ken Owens for Scarlets.
A tense and dramatic final ten minutes saw Leigh Halfpenny and Davies exchanged penalties before – with time up – Davies slotted a drop goal to spark wild celebrations on home soil.
“I’m really pleased for the lads,” said the Director of Dragons Rugby. “It was one of those games where there wasn’t a huge amount of rugby to be played and you just have to stay in it.
“Over the last three or four weeks the group has grown a lot from experiences, and we have played a lot on wet nights.
“You just have to stay in those games, wait and have a good set piece; once again I thought that the entry of the lads off the bench, every position, added impetus rather than detracting.
“That is a massive positive for us because it keeps us all the way until the end, and it mattered tonight.”
The final whistle was greeted with a deafening ovation and celebrations both on the field and on the terraces.
And Ryan was pleased for the players as they claimed a huge result in the opening festive fixture.
“You know that I am going to tell you that it’s about the long-term but at the same time if you’ve had some tough times here then you deserve some good times,” he said.
“That’s all it is, if you put a shift in you deserve some good times.”
Dragons followed up the win with a narrow 12-10 loss to Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park which also showed encouraging progress for Ryan.
“I am pretty pleased and proud of how competitive we are and how we are working things out in games,” he said.
“For us to be in a contest away from home, five days after winning against the Scarlets, I am pretty proud of our group.
“We’ll just talk about doing that regularly and getting better at understanding how to make that next step because we had a chance at the end but didn’t really manipulate that situation to pull the trigger.”
I am pretty pleased and proud of how competitive we are and how we are working things out in games...
