Ryan insists he sees good signs as his Dragons crash

NEW Dragons coach Dean Ryan lamented them not taking their chances when they were on top in the opening quarter at Thomond Park.

His men did well initially in difficult conditions in Limerick but struggled to turn possession into scores and in the end were beaten by five tries to nil by a Munster side with a dozen players in Japan.

Ryan said he found positives in the display despite the final scoreline as Dragons extended their run without an away win in the league to 45 games.

“The opening 20 minutes was encouraging but you have got to take opportunities when you create them and we just didn’t do that,” he said.

“I thought we were still in it at half-time, even at 22-9, but from about 50 minutes onwards we were chasing the contest and the game was gone.

“We do have to learn how to play sides who are more physical than us, but I thought there were some real positives. Our scrum was great and we just need to keep working on being smart.”

Munster seize control after a sluggish opening and they turned the screw when Dragons were down to 14 men when hooker Richard Hibbard was binned for a high tackle on Jack O’Donoghue.

Munster, helped by a try under the posts from No.8 Arno Botha after a drive from a penalty to the left corner, led 10-6 when Hibbard was yellow-carded but they scored a brace of tries with the extra man.

O’Donoghue was at the end of another good drive to score under the posts and then five minutes from the break promising winger Shane Daly gathered his own chip to score in the left corner.

A third penalty from Sam Davies cut the gap to 22-9 at the interval but JJ Hanrahan cancelled that within two minutes of the restart.

Munster held Dragons scoreless while Mike Haley was in the bin for a high tackle but they regrouped and secured the bonus point when a break from Rory Scannell created an opening which was finished under the posts by Tyler Bleyendaal, while academy hooker Diarmuid Barron rounded off the win with their fifth try.

“I thought it was a clinical performance,” said Munster coach Johann van Graan. “We did well when they had a man in the bin and then we defended well when we had a yellow card.

“Conceding zero tries is always encouraging.”