The Dragons’ made the long trip to Johannesburg to face the Emirates Lions at Ellis Park and with Tiatia’s men not being able to win against Pau the previous Sunday it was a straight shootout for the round of 16. However, that thought of reaching the last 16 quickly dissolved after four first half tries and it could’ve been more if the hosts didn’t fumble possession in the red zone.
You have to say the Dragons did the hard work of winning away from home against Newcastle back in December last year but the defeats at Rodney Parade to Top 14 sides Montpellier and Pau proved vital. With that they needed to win in South Africa, a place that they have never won. And from the start it never looked likely.
On the 60-10 defeat captain, Aneurin Owen said:
“Fair play to the Lions, they were great tonight they probably just physically battered us and it’s important that us as a group we stick together now and we got to find solutions to get better.
“We got to review the game and take our learnings, be honest with each other and you know this is the group there’s no one coming in so we got to stay tight and be honest with our feedback.”
Their set piece never got going which meant that both Ewan Rosser and Rio Dyer couldn’t make much of an impact with the ball.
After praising the line-out in last week’s player ratings for Tiatia’s men that seemed to have been a curse as it was simply not good enough. That could be telling as Elliot Dee was replaced at the break by Brodie Coghlan who vastly improved it. From restarts they weren’t giving themselves a helping hand as Will Reed continually kicked deep into the hosts 22 not allowing for the ball to be contested.
Looking at the stats the visitors missed 32 tackles to the Lions 10 and perhaps the most staggering stat from this is outside half Will Reed was the top tackler alongside Shane Lewis-Hughes with ten.
Looking at some of the positives if there are any, I thought Ewan Rosser played his best game for the Dragons in a while and this can be backed up with the defenders beaten stat of three and was a major ball carrier. Ryan Woodman yet again showed his qualities in the lineout and Huw Anderson ran the most metres (62) almost double that of Rio Dyer.
However, another headache for the Dragons and for Wales in the Six Nations is the fitness status of Aaron Wainwright as despite making the long journey to South Africa he was unable to play due to a leg injury.
If the Dragons were successful in Johannesburg it would’ve been a trip to the Scottish capital to face Edinburgh. It was a huge test and a brutal learning for this young Dragons side in South Africa but with all the other three regions qualifying for the last 16 of the tournament, you got to ask yourself where does this leave the Dragons?
Munster Rugby now travel to Rodney Parade on Saturday evening after they advance in the Champions Cup before the Six Nations break, which perhaps can’t come quickly enough for Tiatia’s men.
Emirates Lions Rugby: 60
Tries: Francke Horn (9, 48), Sam Francis (15), Ruan Venter (22, 66), Tapiwa Mafura (26), Gianni Lombard (56), Jaco Visagie (61), Manuel (80)
Conversion: Sam Francis (9, 16, 23, 27), Gianni Lombard (66, 81)
Penalties- Sam Francis (3)
Dragons RFC: 10
Tries: Paula Latu (53),
Conversions: Will Reed (54)
Penalties- Will Reed (7)
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