Dragons v Leinster Match Report
In their return to the Guinness PRO12 the Men of Gwent took on second placed Leinster in difficult conditions with the wind and rain swirling around the home of the Dragons.
A late change to the starting team saw Lewis Evans pull out with a calf strain, in to cover him was Cory Hill who moved to number 8 and saw Scott Andrews come onto the bench.
The Welsh Region opened their account quickly with a try from wing Ashton Hewitt in the opening 4 minutes. A wide pass from Sarel Pretorius, to Tovey who in turn passed to Hewitt saw him step inside and cross the white wash, with Tovey adding the extras.
With the Dragons being penalised at the scrum, Leinster wing Fergus McFadden kicked a successful penalty making the scores 7-3 after 11 minutes.
A loose ball in the tackle saw Leinster scoop it up and attack the Dragons defence. After a few phases amongst the Leinster backs Luke McGrath spotted a gap in the Dragons defence and found himself crossing the whitewash; with the try being converted.
With Leinster in possession of the ball and attacking into the Dragons half, a charge down from Rynard Landman saw Hallam Amos make a lovely break towards the Leinster try line. With the ball edging closer to the try line, Pretorius got the ball out to Tovey and a lovely chip from the fly-half saw Hewitt over for his second try. However the referee did not award the try due to a knock on from Pretorius at the break down.
Once again the Dragons crossed the try line, this time it was Adam Warren who made it over the whitewash however he did so with a Leinster player on the ball also. With the referee looking at the TMO for guidance he deemed it inconclusive so it was the second try of the night that was not awarded for the Dragons; scores remaining 7-10.
After many warnings for line out infringements from the referee, Leinster’s Dan Levy saw yellow and was sent off for kicking the ball out of Pretorius’ hands. The Dragons kicked to the corner and once again they attack the white wash. A chip through the Leinster defence saw Adam Warren scramble to get the ball down over the try line but it went too far out of his reach and found touch.
Some fantastic hands from Ashton Hewitt saw him dart through three players and gain vital yards towards the Leinster try line. After a few phases the Dragons edged closer and closer and finally after some great passes from Boris Stankovich, Brok Harris and Landman; Jason Tovey crashed over the try line, with Tovey converting his own try.
Tovey slotted over three more points with a drop goal and extended the lead by 17-10 before the half-time whistle.
The first points of the second half were from a penalty kick from Leinster.
After some great defensive work from the Dragons, Leinster were penalised for not releasing and Tovey kicks a successful penalty.
A dangerous tackle on Sarel Pretorius sees Fergus McFadden awarded a yellow card, taking him off the field for the remainder of the match. And in the dying 60 seconds of the match saw another penalty slotted over with ease from fly-half Jason Tovey to seal the final score of the evening.
Full Time: Dragons 23 – Leinster 13
