Moriarty boost, but Dragons fail to take their chances for victory

BOSS Dean Ryan said Dragons had failed to take their chances as they could only draw 13-13 with Benetton on Friday.

Back row Ross Moriarty scored on his playing return and was a big presence as he looked to prove his fitness for Wales before the Six Nations.

But it was ultimately a frustrating night at Rodney Parade for Dragons who also saw hooker Elliot Dee sent off late on in the United Rugby Championship clash.

“Looking at the overall game, it says where we are,” said the Director of Dragons Rugby.

“We lacked a bit of confidence because we created a load of opportunities and should have taken two or three of them, then when we don’t, we get ourselves caught in the headlights.

“The last two minutes just showed a side that has not got clarity of what it wants to do, trying to win a game from their own line.

“We should have put the game away around 50 or 60 minutes with the opportunities that we had.”

Dragons made a slow start, going 10-0 down and Ryan told the region’s website: “We gave away soft points. “We weren’t good enough and we didn’t control the ball again through our own mistakes.

“Two weeks ago, they put pressure on us, but they didn’t do that this time.

“We put too much ball down. When we had pressure, we missed lineouts and we dropped ball when we had clear two on ones, which we should have put away.

“We’ve got to keep supporting the group. It is not easy, certainly when some of the game breakers are not around.

“There are clear challenges for us when they are not around but we have to keep supporting them.”

One positive was the return of Moriarty who produced a typically robust display.

“You can see the difference when Ross comes in after not playing for three months. He was our man-ofthe-match,” added Ryan, who replaced Moriarty on 68 minutes.

“I’d have loved to have kept him on for longer because he was the one person who maybe could have changed the game.

“But I’d spoken to Wayne (Pivac) that that was the limit for Ross to get out of him without putting him under pressure.

“I must also credit Chris Coleman has grown in real maturity, for the second week in a row he has held the tighthead prop,” added Ryan.

“It is my job to not lose sight of some of this progression, even though the disappointments that we feel with moments like tonight.”