Leinster show grit but Dragons too good at Rodney Parade

Newport Gwent Dragons 23 Leinster 13

A dogged Leinster were denied a losing bonus-point and top-spot in the Guinness Pro12 by a last minute Jason Tovey penalty at a rain soaked Rodney Parade.

Leo Cullen’s side showed all the grit that was missing from last weekend’s thumping by Wasps in a 23-13 defeat.

Scrum-half and captain Luke McGrath crossed over after Ashton Hewitt had given the Dragons the lead, but a virtuoso display from home outhalf Tovey helped condemn Leo Cullen’s side to their first defeat in seven league outings.

The boot of Fergus McFadden gave the visitors a chance to snatch a gutsy victory, but that proved to be a step too far for the young side.

Leinster travelled to East Wales minus 30 players after a raft of senior and Under 20 Ireland squad call-ups.

Head coach Cullen was forced to prop-up his matchday 23 with three players who were yet to make an appearance for the first XV.

Front-rowers Jeremy Loughman and Oisín Heffernan and number eight Peadar Timmons were all included for the first time, the province’s youngest appearance maker Adam Byrne, who has not pulled on the senior blue jersey for three seasons, started on the wing.

In contrast, Warren Gatland only called three Dragons up to his Wales Six Nations squad, and flying wing Hallam Amos was released back to the region to prove his fitness.

Dominic Ryan and Jordi Murphy were joined by South Africa full-back Zane Kirchner and and Ireland wing Fergus McFadden to add vital top-flight experience, with international half-backs Ian Madigan and Isaac Boss on the bench.

Last weekend's 51-10 defeat to Wasps saw Cullen's men exit the Champions Cup with a whimper, and there are more welcoming places to come than a wet and windy Rodney Parade after a damaging defeat.

And Leinster could not have got off to a worse start. They failed to roll away at a maul, giving the Dragons a kickable penalty, but the hosts turned down a shot and opted for the corner.

The side who started second-from-bottom shunted the Leinster pack towards their own line, and the ball was worked through four phases.

Scrum-half Sarel Pretorious then released Tovey, who found Hewitt, and the lightning fast wing darted in-between McFadden and Michael bent to score. Tovey added the conversion for a 7-0 lead after just four minutes.

But the visitors, aided by a brisk wind at their backs, replied with a McFadden penalty after 11 minutes, before an opportunistic score from captain McGrath put them in-front.

Ross Molony got down to some dogged work at the breakdown to pinch the ball inside the Dragons’ 22, before the nippy scrum-half weaved his way around prop Brok Harris to run-in at the posts.

But McGrath almost turned from hero to villain moments later when he failed to deal with a high-kick from Tovey and almost allowed Adam Warren to beat him to the ball for a try, but the television match official came to the rescue.

And the Dragons had a second try disallowed after 20 minutes when Tovey used his boot to good effect once again to find Hewitt at the corner, but Pretorious had knocked on in the build-up.

But Lyn Jones’ men finally got their score, and it was Hewitt who set it up with a searing break to leave a trio of Leinster defenders in his wake.

The defence scrambled back but were finally caught out when Landman offloaded to Tovey for a score he converted himself.

The number 10 knocked overt a drop-goal after 37 minutes to give Leinster a 17-10 deficit to overcome in the second-half.

But with the introduction of Madigan at the break, Leinster found their rhythm. McFadden knocked a penalty over to cut the gap to four, before Madigan orchestrated a 15-minute spell of attacking pressure.

But a knock-on inches from the line wasted all of Leinster’s hard work and gave the Dragons to an opportunity to take a deep breath and relieve the pressure.

And Tovey’s 70th minute penalty wrapped up the triumph before McFadden was shown yellow for an illegal clear-out, and Tovey denied a losing bonus with a last ditch penalty.

Scoring sequence: 4 mins: A Hewitt try, J Tovey con (7-0), 11 mins: F McFadden pen (7-3), 15 mins: L McGrath try, McFadden con (7-10), 33 mins: Tovey try, Tovey con (14-10), 37 mins: Tovey drop-goal (17-10); 45 mins: McFadden pen (17-13), 70 mins: Tovey pen (20-13).

Newport Gwent Dragons: C Meyer; A Hewitt, A Hughes, A Warren, H Amos; J Tovey, S Pretorious (C Davies); B Stankovich (P Price), TR Thomas (c) (E Dee), B Harris (S Knight); M Screech, C Hill (S Andrews), N Croswell (J Benjamin), N Cudd, R Landman.

Reps not used: GR Jones, N Scott.

Tries - A Hewitt, J Tovey. Cons - Tovey (2) Pens - Tovey. Drop goal - Tovey.

Leinster: Z Kirchner; A Byrne, (N Reid) G Ringrose, B Te'o, F McFadden; C Marsh (I Madigan), L McGrath (c) (I Boss); P Dooley (J Loughman), J Tracy (R Strauss), M Bent; R Molony, H Triggs (T Beirne); D Ryan (P Timmins), D Leavy, J Murphy.

Reps not used: O Heffernan.

Tries - L McGrath. Cons - F McFadden. Pens - F McFadden (2)

Yellow cards: D Leavy, F McFadden.

Referee: M Mitrea (Italy)

Attendance: 4,303.