Connacht 31 – 7 Dragons: Irish delight as Dragons are slain at the Dexcom

10/28/2024 04:44 AM

By Jordan Jones

Connacht scored five tries in a bonus point victory over the Dragons in the United Rugby Championship. Three first half tries and a flurry in the last five minutes helped the Irish side move up to fifth place in the URC.

Aaron Wainwright made his return to rugby on Saturday Night as the Dragons travelled to the Dexcom stadium to face Connacht. Both teams came into the game after home losses last weekend, but a win here would have been crucial to both teams. Dragons were looking to move away from the foot of the table while Connacht had their eyes fixed closer to the top.

Paul Boyde put the hosts in front early in the game. Following a lineout, Connacht broke the gain line repeatedly from the pick and go before Boyde inevitably powered over the try line. That was followed by a fantastic second for the home side. Joe Joyce, Bundee Ake and the scorer Caolin Blade all combined to double the Irish side's try count.

And with two conversions courtesy of Cathal Forde, Connacht led 14 – 0 inside 20 minutes. Just before halftime Cian Prendercast broke the tackle of Dane Blacker to storm through for a third try for Connacht. An obvious miss-match inside the Dragons' 22 saw the hosts' second row go through Blacker as if he were not there. This meant that at half time Connacht led by 19.

In the second half, the visitors began to show some signs of life. Rhodri Williams came on in place of Daine Blacker following his surprise call up to the Welsh Autumn Internationals squad on Monday. The Dragons began to knock on the door with phase after phase in the Connacht 22. But the green wall gave no answer. While Connacht pressed for a bonus point try, the Dragons were trying to spark a comeback. As the home side tried to break from their own 22, Harri Keddie won a crucial penalty at the breakdown. This gave the Dragons a real chance to hit back at the hour mark.

But somehow, five yards from their own try line, Connacht's green wall held out yet again. Ultimately, the second half played out an unyielding stalemate. That was until substitute Mathhew Devine broke the Dragons line and played in Cathal Forde who scored the try that sealed a bonus point win for Connacht. As luck would have it, the Dragons finally scored, but it was too little too late with two minutes left to play.

Taine Basham was the consolation scorer. And it did not stop there. A loose pass from Rhodri Williams was intercepted by Mathew Devine who ran 60 yards to compile the Dragons' misery. It was no less than Devine deserved as he was the light in an otherwise arguably slower half of rugby. The match ended Connacht 31 – 7 Dragons.

Connacht: 31
15 Piers O'Conor, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade; 1 Peter Dooley, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Joe Joyce, 5 Niall Murray, 6 Cian Prendergast, 7 Sean O'Brien, 8 Paul Boyle

Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitléar, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Sean Jansen, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Hugh Gavin

TRIES: 5 (Boyle 6', Blade 19', Prendercast 39', Forde 75', Devine 80')
CONVERSIONS: 3 (Forde 7' 19' 76')
PENALTIES: 0
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 0
RED CARDS: 0

Dragons: 7
15 Cai Evans, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Ewan Rosser, 10 Angus O'Brien, 9 Dane Blacker; 1 Cameron Jones, 2 Oli Burrows, 3 Chris Coleman, 4 Ben Carter (c), 5 Matthew Screech, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7 Harri Keddie, 8 Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 Steve Cummins, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Lloyd Evans, 23 Harry Wilson.

TRIES: 1 (Basham 77')
CONVERSIONS: 1 (O'Brien 78')
PENALTIES: 0
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 0
RED CARDS: 0

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