Dragons claim bonus point in PRO14 win
DRAGONS coach Bernard Jackman gained ground in achieving his aim of turning Rodney Parade into an unwelcoming fortress for visiting teams, when his men clinched a 29-13 bonus point win over the Southern Kings.
That left the struggling Kings winless and pointless in the PRO14 and they will be desperate for a change in fortune when they travel to Italy to play Benetton Treviso on Saturday.
“We want to make Rodney Parade a fortress,” Jackman said.
“The Dragons want to get the crowd involved again and feed off it. We are trying to build a team the fans can relate to and be a part of.”
Kings coach Deon Davids has warned that things will not get any easier for his team, and he will be hoping to turn things around against Benneton and Glasgow in their remaining tour games.
On Saturday, the Kings came unstuck in miserable conditions when they fell to a fifth consecutive PRO14 defeat.
At half time, the Dragons were almost out of sight after building a healthy 22-6 lead.
Getting their first proper taste of wet-weather European conditions, the Kings leaked four tries at a rain-swept stadium in front of more than 5 000 fans who braved the elements.
The last time the Dragons claimed a bonus point win in the league was back in March 2015 against Leinster.
Jackman’s Dragons team had the required four tries for the bonus in the bag after just 42 minutes, with Hallam Amos and man of the match Elliot Dee both crossing twice.
There were also nine points from flyhalf Gavin Henson’s boot.
The Kings’ try came from Andisa Ntsila after the Dragons earned their bonus point.
Jackman lamented his side’s inability to turn a 29-6 scoreline at the start of the second half into a hammering of the Kings.
“I think we missed a massive opportunity in the second half to show that we are ruthless and have a killer instinct,” the former Ireland hooker said.
“We didn’t have that, which is disappointing. It’s a work-on for us, at least we are going to win and learn.
“They were there to be put away but after we scored the fourth try our celebration showed a team that hasn’t had a lot of bonus points.
“After that we just didn’t get back on our next task and because we want to play a wide game we continued to throw it around. Our skill set let us down and handling errors kept giving the Kings opportunities.
Scorers: Dragons 29: Tries: Hallam Amos(2), Elliot Dee(2). Conversions: Gavin Henson (3). Penalty: Henson . Southern Kings 13: Try : Andisa Ntsila. Conversion: Pieter-Steyn de Wet. Penalties: Pieter-Steyn de Wet (2)