Dragons 19 Connacht 27:CONNACHT OVERCAME the Newport Gwent Dragons last evening to grab only their second away RaboDirect Pro 12 victory since their opening day visit to Treviso. It was a deserved reward for the Irish province after left wing Fetu Vainikolo grabbed two tries either side of half-time, and outhalf Miah Nikora kicked 17 points.
In truth it was something of a penalty fest from first-time PRO 12 Italian referee Giuseppe Vivarini. In the first-half Connacht seemed to be given the rub of the green, and they racked up a 19-9 lead, but the pendulum swung firmly in Newport’s favour with a bizarre 15-3 penalty count against the visitors in the second half.
It ensured Connacht were on the back foot for long periods. And with Ronan Loughney in the sin bin, and Eoghan Grace following after just a minute on the field, Connacht were forced too withstand a wholesale attack on their line. Yet they prevailed with an immense defensive display that denied the home side.
Yet it was Connacht who were full value for their 19-9 lead after a lively opening half in which they dominated possession and territory. Creating at least three trying scoring chances – one of which they converted – they made their dominance count on the scoreboard through the boot of outhalf Miah Nikora who kicked four penalties, missing only one.
The Dragons kickstarted the scoring with an early penalty which outhalf Lewis Robling kicked after three minutes, but Connacht, looking to spread the ball wide, started making inroads, and it was from a counterattack the visitors capitalised. Fetu Vainikolo started the move, Brett Wilkinson made a impact when charging through the middle, and after a couple of phases and quick ruck ball, Gavin Duffy’s skip pass found Vainikolo who finished off in the left corner.
Nikora added the conversion to put Connacht into a 7-3 lead, but within minutes Robling responded with a second penalty to narrow the deficit. Thereafter, the home outfit was outplayed in the scrum, the loose, and out wide. Nikora capitalised when the Dragons went offside in the ruck, and in the next 13 minutes Nikora added two more penalties, missing only an ambitious 18th minute effort to help his side into a 16-6 lead.
With some electric running from both wingers, and Mike McCarthy, John Muldoon and Ray Ofisa wrapping up their opponents in the tackle, Connacht were in command, particularly when returning Wales international Dan Lydiate was binned and Nikora stretched the lead to 13 points. Connacht should have added to their try tally but Halloran was ruled in touch before finding the supporting Kyle Tonetti five metres from the line, and a Connacht knock on five minutes later stymied another chance.
The Dragons added a penalty before the break, but Vainikolo grabbed his second try within 57 seconds of the restart. From McCarthy’s lineout, the abrasive Henry Fa’afili charged through before another long pass out wide to Vainikolo who brushed off three tacklers and did well to stretch out over the line for the try that sealed the victory. Nikora missed the conversion and a penalty chance minutes later and it seemed to give the home side hope.
They began a second half in which Newport took control with a succession of penalties. Outhalf Llewis Robling reduced the gap before the influential number eight Toby Faletau finally broke through after a series of five-metre scrums. However that as good as it got for the home side who could not break down the Connacht defence, and although they had the chance of a bonus point in the 84th minute, replacement outhalf Steffan Jones spurned the chance.
DRAGONS: W Harries; T Chavhanga, A Tuilagi, A Smith, A Brew; L Robling, W Evans; P Price, S Jones, N Buck, L Charteris (capt), R Sidoli, D Lydiate, J Groves, T Faletau. Replacements: N Williams for Price (43 mins), L Evans for Lydiate (56 mins), S parry for Jones (57 mins), J Bedford for Evans, S Jones for Robling (both 65 mins).
CONNACHT: G Duffy; T O’Halloran, F Vainikolo, K Tonetti, H Fa’afili; F Vainikolo, M Nikora, F Murphy, B Wilkinson E Reynecke, R Loughney, M Swift, M McCarthy, M Kearney, R Ofisa, J Muldoon. Replacements: E Grace for Ofsia (77 mins), E McKeon for Kearney (77 mins), A Flavin for Reynecke (80 mins). Referee: G Vivarini (Italy).
