Challenge Cup: Dragons RFC lose again to French opposition in Europe, this time against Section Paloise

Dragons RFC haven’t done themselves any favours in their hopes for qualification to the knockout stages as they suffer a brutal 24-15 defeat. This now means next week’s game at Ellis Park is a must-win. Otherwise, that’s it for the ‘Men of Gwent’ in Europe this season.

Despite being tryless in the first half, two second-half crossings from Clement Mondinat and Dan Jooste, which were accompanied by the boot of Axel Desperes, saw the French side do enough to win in South Wales.  

Dragons RFC: 15

Tries: Aaron Wainwright (37), Rio Dyer (77)

Conversions: Lloyd Evans (77)

Penalties: Lloyd Evans (13)

Section Paloise: 24

Tries: Clement Mondinat (52), Dan Jooste (63)

Conversions: Axel Desperes (52)

Penalties: Axel Desperes (10,23,27,47)

Yellow Cards: Thibaut Hamonou (2), Theo Attissogbe (76)

 

15- Cai Evans: 5

The talented back that can play comfortably at either fullback or outside half went off after just two minutes for a head injury assessment but eventually returned on the 15-minute mark. His bad luck continued as his return to the pitch was short lived as he was taken off just 10 minutes later and was met with a set of crutches as he went down the tunnel. 

14- Rio Dyer: 6

School boy error right at the start of the second half as he took the ball back over his own line and put pressure immediately back on his side. He did try to work his magic at times by trying to break through the brick wall defence of the visitors but again like many of his other performances for the Dragons this season it was below par despite scoring late on.

13- Joe Westwood: 6

Was great at cutting angles through the visitor’s defence to put his side on the front foot, he was solid in defence, and you can make the argument he was the stand out performer in the backline. It’s also worth taking a note of the centre partnership with both being ones definitely for the future.  

12- Harri Ackerman: 7

The 20-year-old was playing his first game for the Dragons since March last year where he went off injured in the U20s Six Nations against France. He made his return to the sport for Newport RFC against Swansea in Super Rygbi Cymru and a couple of weeks later scored a hat trick against Llandovery. In that time, he has been on the sidelines it looks like the former Wales U20s captain has put on a lot of muscle as every time he went into contact, he got over the gain line.

11- Jared Rosser: 4

After not having the best of performances last timeout at outside centre, Rosser was back in his beloved 11 shirt for this afternoon’s encounter. Despite wearing the same shirt number as his brother Ewan for a large part of the second half, it was again very poor as he was unable to make much of an impact on the game. 

10- Angus O’Brien (c): 5

His kicking game was on point again exploiting gaps in behind Pau’s defence but wasn’t utilised as the main goal kicker as Lloyd Evans came onto the pitch early. He was quiet in defence and unlike other performances this season, it was average this afternoon from the Dragons captain.

9- Che Hope: 5

With Rhodri Williams out with a knee injury the 21-year-old played just his third game of the season. Probably only standout from his performance this afternoon was he was good in keeping the pace of the host’s attack up and wasn’t shy to have a pick and go. 

1-Rodrigo Martinez: 4

The Argentinian loosehead seemed to be going down quite a lot in the first half despite being one of the hosts major ball carriers and put in a lot of big hits. He was eventually replaced by Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths on 49-minutes. 

2- Elliot Dee: 6 

The hooker was scheduled to make his return on New Year’s Day down in Llanelli against the Scarlets but was replaced after dropping out. But it was a welcome return to the Dragons XV for the 30-year-old who will be trying to impress Warren Gatland ahead of the Welsh squad announcement. He carried well and was great at lineout time an area where the Dragons have been weak.

3- Chris Coleman: 4

Didn’t make much of an impact on the game and was hot and cold when it came to scrum time and maybe that showed as at a time in the match the hosts had a 50% scrum success rate. Moldovan international Dmitri Arhip replaced him on 50 minutes, and it will be interesting to see whether he will be involved next week.

4- Joe Davies: 4

Some brilliant takes at the lineout but something that stood out was at times poor with his handling skills when the hosts were in attack. He came off on 54 minutes and was replaced by George Nott but again another performance that was below par.

5- Barny Langton-Cryer: 6

The second row was starting for the very first time in his Dragons career and alongside his other counterparts it looked like the Cardiff Met University graduate was not out of place. One noticeable strength of his game this afternoon was in defence and that point was backed up after a great hit on Clement Mondinat right at the start of the second half. 

6- George Young: 6

In December 2023, the 23-year-old scored what to date is his only try for Dragons, against Section Paloise in the European Challenge Cup. And this afternoon he started for the very first time this season for the ‘Men of Gwent’. He was great around the breakdown and was decent in defence. 

7- Taine Basham: 7

You can always rely on Basham to have a solid game no matter what, and this afternoon was no different. He carried well getting over the gain line with ease, was great at putting pressure on the visitors attack despite having some sloppy mistakes early in the game. He has to be a definite for next week and with Warren Gatland also being in attendance this afternoon you have to make the argument of him being selected in the Six Nations squad. 

8- Aaron Wainwright: 8

With a lot of Dragons supporters wondering why the 27-year-old was not involved in the matchday 23 when the team was announced on Friday afternoon. He was brought straight into the starting XV after Shane Lewis-Hughes dropped out due to illness. He was solid in defence and one moment that stood out was when he single handedly stopped a powerful driving maul from the visitors which looked like it was cruising over the whitewash.

Replacements:

16- James Benjamin: 4

17- Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths: 4

18- Dmitri Arhip: 4

19- George Nott: 5

20- Dan Lydiate: 5

21- Morgan Lloyd: 4

22- Lloyd Evans: 5

23- Ewan Rosser: 4