Dragons 19 – 23 Lions: Jarod Cairns second half score proved decisive for Lions victory
10/13/2024 12:36 PM
By Harry Tovey
After picking up the maximum 10 points from their opening two games in the BKT United Rugby Championship, Ivan Van Rooyen's side continued their unbeaten start, but this time against the 'Men of Gwent'.
Tries from Player of the Match Jarod Cairns and Quan Horn, accompanied by the boots of both Nico Steyn and Sanele Nohamba, were enough for the Lions to overcome the Dragons in their first away outing of the season.
It was a fast start to proceedings at Rodney Parade, with possession equally being shared, and the first real attacking opportunity came after the visitors knocked the ball on. After a successful scrum, Aneurin Owen offloaded to Joe Westwood, who broke through the Lions' defence and put the hosts up into the opposition's 22. However, the 'Men of Gwent' were penalised at the breakdown, and the visitors kicked to relieve pressure.
The deadlock was broken on the 10-minute mark after Francke Horne took it quickly at the scrum and offloaded to scrum-half Morne van den Berg, who put the visitors into the host's 22. Then, after a few phases, the ball was spread quickly to the outside for fullback Horn to cross the whitewash.
The hosts responded accordingly, as it was great vision from Harri Keddie, who from inside his own half, read the Lions' attack expertly and intercepted to crossover for his second of the season. Lloyd Evans added the extras to bring proceedings back level on 14 minutes.
The visitors were then reduced to 14 men after the TMO intervened and resulted in hooker Franco Marais being shown a yellow card after kicking the ball out of Rhodri Williams' hands at the ruck. The Dragons kicked to the corner, and after falling just short of the South African's line after the catch and drive, Taine Basham crossed over for his second of the season after breaking away.
The visitors reduced the deficit after the hosts were penalised and outside-half, Steyn added the three before the half-hour mark. Steyn's boot was instrumental again as he put his side into a 13-12 lead at the break after the hosts were penalised at the breakdown.
HT: Dragons 12-13 Lions
The hosts started the better after the break, and after bursting into the visitor's 22, referee Filippo Russo awarded the hosts a penalty. Evans kicked to the corner, and a successful take at the lineout followed.
With momentum in their favour, the hosts added continuous pressure on the Lions' defence, and Basham eventually crossed over for his second after powerfully breaking through. Moments later, the hosts were penalised, and replacement Nohamba converted the three to reduce the deficit to just three.
That deficit was no more as after an offload back inside from winger Edwill van der Merwe played into the hands of openside Cairns, who powered his way through the Dragons' defence to score the visitors' second. Nohamba slotted the extras and put the visitors back in front for the first time since the 14th minute.
On the 68-minute mark, replacement Will Reed had only been on the field for several minutes and had the opportunity to make it a one-point game. This came after the Lions were penalised at the breakdown. However, his shot deflected off the left post, and the visitors kicked downfield.
With time running out for the hosts, they were penalised at the scrum after not driving straight, and the Lions kicked into the corner. Then, after a successful take at the lineout, a few phases followed, and Dan Lydiate expertly turned the ball over and won his side a penalty. With the clock now in the red, they looked to run from their own 22, but the visitors won a penalty and kicked the ball dead to record their third consecutive win of the season.
Dragons: 19
Tries: 3 (Harri Keddie 14′, Taine Basham 24′ 42)
Conversions: 2 (Lloyd Evans 14′, 42′)
Penalties:
Drop Goals:
Yellow Cards:
Red Cards:
15. Angus O'Brien, 14. Rio Dyer, 13. Joe Westwood, 12. Aneurin Owen, 11. Ewan Rosser, 10. Lloyd Evans, 9. Rhodri Williams, 1. Rodrigo Martinez, 2. Brodie Coghlan, 3. Leon Brown, 4. Ben Carter (C), 5 Matthew Screech, 6. Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7. Harri Kedie, 8. Taine Basham
Replacements: 16. Oli Burrows, 17. Cameron Jones, 18. Chris Coleman, 19. Ryan Woodman, 20. Dan Lydiate, 21, Dane Blacker, 22. Will Reed, 23. Harry Wilson
Lions: 23
Tries: 2 (Quan Horn 10′, Jarod Cairns 51′)
Conversions: 2 (Nico Steyn 10′, Sanele Nohamba 51′)
Penalties: 3 (Steyn 27′ 40′, Nohamba 48′)
Drop Goals: 0
Yellow Cards: 1 (Franco Marais 23′)
Red Cards: 0
15. Quan Horn, 14. Rabz Maxwane, 13. Erich Cronje, 12. Rynhardt Jonker, 11. Edwill van den Merwe, 10. Nico Steyn, 9. Morne van den Berg, 1. Juan Schoeman, 2. Franco Marais, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 4. Reinhard Nothnagel, 5. Darrien Landsberg, 6. JC Pretorius, 7. Jarod Cairns, 8. Francke Horn (C)
Replacements: 16. PJ Botha, 17. Heiko Pohlmann, 18. Conraad van Vuuren, 19. Ruben Schoeman, 20. Renzo Du Plessis, 21. Sanele Nohamba, 22. Marius Louw, 23. Henco van Wyk
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