Dragons down champions Leinster
Fri, 09 May 2008 23:42
Having been hammered by Leinster last weekend, the Newport Gwent Dragons gained some revenge on the newly crowned Magners League champions by running five tries past them for a 31-26 win at Rodney Parade on Friday.
The result secured eighth spot for the Welshmen in the final league table and ensured the Dragons booked their place in the 2008/2009 Heineken Cup tournament - as they finish above Connacht Rugby in the league.
It means the four Welsh regions - Cardiff Blues, Llanelli Scarlets, the Ospreys and the Dragons - will compete in the 14th season of the tournament along with fellow Celtic sides Leinster, Munster, Ulster Rugby, Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.
The champions, Leinster, fell behind 0-17 after 14 minutes, but clawed back to set up a nervous few minutes for the hosts.
Hooker Steve Jones broke the Irish line within three minutes, with Wayne Evans, Hugh Gustafson and Phil Dollman all swiftly following for a bonus point.
Leinster hit back through Michael Berne and Girvan Dempsey before the break.
But a fifth Dragons try through Adam Black proved just enough despite Berne crossing again to spark a tense finale.
Leinster midfielder Mick Berne was satisfied, despite his team's loss.
"It was good to get another run in the season after a good season," was how he put a positive spin on the game.
"Okay the result was disappointing, because we set high standards for ourselves, but it just goes to show how much heart there is in the team because we fought right to the very end.
"You can't afford to give attacking sides such a lead so we were chasing the game for most of it, but we could have snatched it.
"I've enjoyed my time in Ireland and I hope that the boys go on to bigger and better things next year."
The scorers:
Newport Gwent Dragons:
Tries: Jones, Evans, Gustafson, Dollman, Black
Cons: Tovey 2, Sweeney
Leinster:
Tries: Berne 2, Dempsey
Con: Sexton
Pens: Sexton 3
Yellow cards: James Harris (Newport Gwent Dragons, 79), Adam Jones (Newport Gwent Dragons, 68)
The teams:
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Gareth Wyatt, 13 Rhodri Gomer-Davies, 12 Phillip Dollman, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 James Harris, 6 Colin Charvis (captain), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Andy Hall, 3 Patrick Palmer, 2 Steve Jones, 1 Hugh Gustafson.
Replacements: 16 Ben Daly, 17 Adam Black, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Lewis Evans, 20 Paul Emerick, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Alex Walker.
Leinster: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Michael Berne, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Chris Keane, 8 Stephen Keogh, 7 Kevin
McLaughlin, 6 Cameron Jowitt, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Trevor Hogan, 3 Stephen Knoop, 2 Brian Blaney, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Bernard Jackman, 17 Ronan McCormack, 18 Malcolm O'Kelly, 19 Richie Leyden, 20 Chris Whitaker, 21 Christian Warner, 22 Gary Brown.
Referee: Peter Allan (SRU)
Touch judges: James Jones (WRU), Gwyn Morris (WRU)
TMO: Huw Lewis (WRU)
