Coming off the back of successive wins for Dragons A against Scarlets and Ospreys Development, Saturday marked a return to BKT United Rugby Championship action for Dragons against Cardiff.
Despite the 31-23 loss at Cardiff Arms Park there were “lot of high points” according to interim head coach Filo Tiatia who praised the performances of the “young guys who got an opportunity off the bench and showed their potential".
Saturday’s bench included Senior Academy trio Huw Anderson, Ryan Woodman and scrum-half Morgan Lloyd who made an impact with his first senior try for Dragons.
The 22-year-old former Wales u-20 international made his debut for Dragons last season off the bench against the DHL Stormers before appearing the week after against Ospreys.
Lloyd’s try on Saturday on his third appearance for Dragons senior side came from a brilliant sniping break, fooling Wales international Keiron Assiratti with a dummy before fending off Josh Adams to score.
“It happened so quickly you don’t really have a lot of time to think about it,” said Lloyd of his try.
“It’s a next thing mentality. Obviously I was happy to get that try but disappointed not to win the game.”
Lloyd’s performance was at the heart of a second half fightback from Dragons with another break from the scrum-half leading to a penalty which preceded Aki Seiuli’s try.
“Second half the messages were to keep hold of the ball because they had quite a tight narrow defence and in the final 20 minutes a lot of boys came on and we were playing in the right areas and trying to keep the speed of ball high,” said Lloyd.
“In the last 20 we played a bit more of what was in front of us and in better areas.
“When we get that fast ball we can stay on top of teams and there were quite a few gaps around the breakdown.”
While the Cardiff defence might have been forgiven for not being aware of Lloyd’s try-scoring acumen, fans of Pontypool have become well-accustomed with his eye for a score with the scrum-half scoring nine tries for Pooler last term along with two this season.
Lloyd was able to further his case for an opportunity with the senior side during the recent Dragons A games against Scarlets and Ospreys Development sides.
Another dart from scrum-half along with a right-foot step set up Dai Richards’ opening try against Scarlets and after coming on as a replacement against Ospreys, Lloyd also set up Joel Mahoney’s final try with another show and go.
“The first game against the Scarlets we had a good run scoring 70 points,” said Lloyd.
“Second game was a bit more tough against an Ospreys side with more senior professionals and I think that was a good stepping stone for this game.”
Next up for Dragons and Lloyd is a busy Christmas period starting at home to Montpellier in the European Challenge Cup before travelling to Newcastle in the same competition a week later.
To close out the year is the home match against Cardiff on Boxing Day in the URC before a trip to Llanelli to face Scarlets on New Years’ Day.
“It will be an exciting game on Friday,” said Lloyd.
“We don’t play French sides a lot but they are known for being physical but also playing good rugby as well.
“Boxing Day down Rodney there will be a big crowd down there and I think it’ll be the biggest game of the season.”
Boxing Day down Rodney there will be a big crowd down there and I think it’ll be the biggest game of the season...
