RYAN SO PROUD OF HIS PLAYERS
DRAGONSboss Dean Ryan talked up his players after their shock 38-27 victory over the Scarlets in Llanelli, only the Gwent team’s second win of the entire campaign.
Ryan and his side have come under fire during what has been a dismal season, so he could be forgiven for having a smile as the Dragons ran in five tries to triumph over a Scarlets side that had thrashed Cardiff in another Welsh derby only seven days earlier.
“The players have had moments like that and not been able to close it out, so they deserve their time in the sun enjoying that,” said Ryan, who name-checked some of the stars on the day.
“Some of our big players stood up. Will Rowlands was outstanding along with Ben Carter, who is still a young man, let’s not forget. Derbies are about internationals standing up and about those who work on the fringes being noticed, and we did that.
“I’ve been saying for weeks to take notice of Jack Dixon but for some reason you have to play well against the Scarlets to get noticed. Harrison Keddie the same.”
Two tries in the final 10 minutes ended Ryan’s side’s run of 13 games without a win, while knocking the Scarlets’ playoff hopes in the process.
The match couldn’t have started much worse for the home side as they were quickly reduced to 13 men as Jonathan Davies and Steff Evans were both sent to the sin-bin within five minutes of each other.
Davies’s high hit on Josh Lewis might easily have warranted a red, but Ben Whitehouse found enough mitigation to only show a yellow, while Evans joined him after killing the ball cynically.
The Dragons took advantage immediately after the second yellow, with Dixon powering over from the resultant scrum.
There were questions over the grounding, but again Whitehouse and his team of officials saw fit not to overturn the original decision.
The Scarlets hit back, first through the boot of Sam Costelow shortly after.
And then some strong carrying from the home side saw Sione Kalamafoni burrow his way over.
To their credit, the away side, winless in 13, responded well, with a patient attack after an Aaron Wainwright break seeing Taine Basham force his way over just after the half-hour mark.
However, with the clock red, the Scarlets managed to find a weakness in a resolute Dragons defence to work Liam Williams over in the corner and head into the sheds with the lead.
It wouldn’t take long after the break for the Dragons to forge back ahead. Dixon turned provider this time, breaking through a weak tackle before releasing Jared Rosser to race away.
Their lead wouldn’t last to the hour mark, with the Scarlets scoring in bizarre fashion to retake the lead.
Corey Baldwin looked destined to score in the corner, only to be denied just short. Heading for touch, he managed to get a hopeful offload away infield.
Liam Williams picked it up off his laces, before throwing a similarly wishful no-look pass backwards as he also headed to touch. The ball evaded a host of jerseys before Johnny Williams gathered it to score a simple try.
And as the clock ticked past the hour, the Scarlets moved further ahead. Moments after Wales full-back Williams had limped off to be replaced by scrumhalf Dane Blacker, Kieran Hardy, who shifted from nine to the wing, crossed for their fourth try.
In the final 10 minutes the Dragons pushed on and were handed their chance when Baldwin was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on eight minutes from time.
From that penalty the away side rumbled over from a maul, with replacement hooker Taylor Davies the man at the tail grounding the ball. Fly-half Sam Davies nailed his fourth, and most important, conversion of the night and the Dragons led once again with minutes remaining.
Moments later, Rhodri Williams raced beyond despairing tackles to score after a Dragons drive.
One last penalty from Davies sealed their first win since the victory over Connacht in October.