Dragons 6 Leinster 7
Leo Cullen and Josh van der Flier stressed the importance of a Leinster win in Newport and the pair also rightly gave credit to a resilient performance from Welsh region Dragons.
Yet it also must be said that this was a very poor Irish display and such was the paucity of the performance from Cullen’s men that there was nearly a huge, huge shock at Rodney Parade.
Dragons did claim the scalp of Leinster on home turf in 2015, but meetings between these two sides normally end in facile victories for the men in blue. Not so this one.
Leinster’s game was dominated by errors, turnovers and 11 penalties. South African referee AJ Jacobs wasn’t afraid to use his whistle and the result was a stop-start encounter.
Still, Leinster can only blame themselves. In the end they did enough to win by the narrowest of margins thanks to a Max Deegan try, but the margin should have been far more.
And when Sam Davies kicked two second-half Dragons penalties, those of an Irish persuasion started to get a little nervous. Leinster also failed to make the most of two home yellow cards.
“I thought the lads started okay and Dragons had two guys in the bin. We didn’t capitalise in that period and were a little bit loose with possession,” Leinster head coach Cullen said.
“We knew the conditions would be difficult but we definitely could have been better and there were a lot of turnovers over the course of the game. We relieved pressure too easily.
“It turned into a very tight contest. We squandered some opportunities and didn’t build scoreboard pressure. We’re pleased to come away with a win after the situation we found ourselves in.
“We had chances and a huge amount of credit goes to Dragons. They dug in well defensively. We could have been more patient and we had five or six key turnovers a few metres from their line.
“We knew Dragons were unlucky against the Ospreys and this was a good learning for our young guys. For us it’s about recovery now for Zebre with a short turnaround.”
Heavy pre-match rain in south Wales made for a scrappy start. Leinster turned down a kickable early penalty in favour of the corner but Conor O’Brien lost possession to an Ollie Griffiths rip. It was the start of a familiar theme.
Leinster pressure forced Dragons scrumhalf Lewis Jones to be yellow carded when he failed to release an Irish carrier after tackling him on the home line.
Deegan immediately went over from close range and Ross Byrne converted.
Leinster’s job was made easier still when they launched a counterattack from their own 22 and Dragons fullback Josh Lewis joined Jones in the bin for a deliberate knock on.
Leinster remained in charge but the end product was lacking. O’Brien again spilled the ball, Michael Ala’alatoa was penalised at a set-piece and Jamison Gibson-Park knocked on.
It allowed Dragons to stay in the game as Jones and then Lewis returned before the break. Byrne’s poor first-half form continued at the start of the second with another woeful kick.
Leinster just couldn’t get going. A lineout went awry, there was another turnover and a penalty for holding on. The blue errors kept coming and coming.
Cullen introduced Dan Leavy to try and sort Leinster’s breakdown troubles. It didn’t work and Davies put Dragons on the board with a 63rd minute penalty.
And after more Leinster contact area woes, Davies stepped up again to make it a one-point game.
Leinster were arguably getting worse. Replacement Ryan Baird inexplicably dropped a simple lineout ball when unchallenged and then did likewise when hit hard by a double Welsh tackle.
Leinster thought they had put the game to bed with a few minutes to go when Nick McCarthy went over, but the South African officials utilised the TMO and the score was ruled out for a knock on.
It summed up Leinster’s day and the only positive for them was the result as they came nowhere near to a bonus point. Ireland flanker Van der Flier was named the official player of the match on his 100th appearance and produced some good turnovers, but no Leinster player stood out.
“It was very tough going. Dragons were very, very good and it was tough conditions to play in. They made it really hard for us,” Van der Flier said.
“We’ll take a huge amount from getting a win like that. It wasn’t pretty by any means but it took a lot of hard work against a very good team.”
Scorers - Dragons: Pens: S Davies 63, 66. Leinster: Try: M Deegan 13; Con: R Byrne 15.
Dragons: J Lewis; J Holmes, J Dixon, A Owen, J Olowofela; S Davies, L Jones; A Seiuli, E Dee, M Doge; W Rowlands, B Carter; R Moriarty (capt), O Griffiths, A Wainwright. Replacements: T Basham (for Griffiths 32) G Bateman (for Seiuli 47), R Williams (for Jones 50), J Maksymiw (for Carter 55), C Coleman (for Doge 58), T Davies (for Dee 59).
Leinster: H Keenan; R Russell, G Ringrose, C O'Brien, R O'Loughlin; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, M Ala'alatoa; R Molony, J Ryan (capt); R Ruddock, J Van der Flier, M Deegan. Replacements: C Frawley (for O'Loughlin 54), A Porter (for E Byrne 56), J Tracy (for Sheehan 56), D Leavy (for Deegan 56), C Healy (for Ala'alatoa 56), N McCarthy (for Gibson-Park 62), R Baird (for Ruddock 64), R O'Loughlin (for O'Brien 67).
Referee: AJ Jacobs (South Africa).
