Ryan frustrated as Dragons see miserable run continue
DRAGONS coach Dean Ryan was once again left a frustrated man after his side succumbed to yet another defeat.
The Welsh side’s 23-9 Challenge Cup defeat to Benetton was a ninth loss in 10 matches this season.
Ryan said: “The second half, particularly, I don’t think we controlled the ball either side of it.
“Breakdown-wise they killed any momentum, but we also couldn’t deal with high ball from them and couldn’t hold on for long enough to get into a game that brings the like of Taine (Basham) and Aaron (Wainwright) to the fore.
“Unless we solve those issues, we can’t impose a game that we are seeking to do.
“We have got to get better at controlling instances when we are in possession so we can get to a game we want to play.
“But we also need to be able to diffuse a game that’s coming at us in the air and we weren’t able to do that.
“We weren’t competitive for long enough today to warrant any sort of result.”
The defeat ended their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Challenge Cup.
It was their first game since December 17, with their three festive Welsh derbies having all been cancelled due to Covid cases.
Things looked to be going reasonably well on their return to action as they led 9-8 at half-time thanks to three penalties from flyhalf Sam Davies.
But Benetton took control after the break, with full-back Edoardo Padovani and hooker Tomás Baravalle going over to add to a first-half touchdown by second row Irne Herbst.
In contrast, the Dragons never looked like scoring a try. They were just unable to sustain any kind of attacking pressure, coming second best both at the breakdown and in the aerial battle.
On the Wales front, there was a return for fit-again lock Will Rowlands, while back-rowers Basham and Wainwright had their moments, with Leon Brown having a run off the bench.
But this was another disappointing day for the Dragons.
Having taken an early lead through the boot of Davies, they fell behind on 13 minutes to the only try of the first half.
Off a line-out maul, the hosts attacked down the narrow side and then brought play back infield where bearded South African Herbst drove for the whitewash and just managed to get the ball down before losing control of it.
His countryman Rhyno Smith was wide with the straightforward conversion, but the fly-half made no mistake with a more testing penalty to stretch his side’s advantage.
The Dragons responded with a second successful kick from Davies that followed good work from Basham and Jamie Roberts.
Basham made the initial incision, latching on to a Roberts offload and bursting through.
His attempted chip over the top was blocked, but the Dragons maintained the momentum with hard-carrying centre Roberts involved twice more and earning the penalty under the sticks.
Then, with the final kick of the half, Davies was on target again, making light of the distance and angle to give the visitors a onepoint interval lead.
But Benetton went back in front with a try from full-back Padovani, who collected a Leonardo Marin cross-kick on the bounce and stepped inside Rio Dyer to the line.
Smith slotted the conversion and added a penalty before the hosts sealed victory with a try four minutes from time as Argentinian replacement hooker Baravalle rounded off a line-out drive.