Dragons v Leinster Match Report

Leinster Rugby sealed the win this evening against a spirited Newport Gwent Dragons team following a fast paced second half to the match.

The Dragons began the match well with early pressure inside the visitors 22, this positive start saw the home team take the lead through the boot of Dorian Jones following an infringement at the scrum.

The Welsh Region’s 3-0 lead unfortunately didn’t last long as full-back Joey Carbery broke free from the Dragons defence leaving a simple pass to over the supporting back rower, Jack Conan, to cross for the try. The conversion was slotted successfully to see the visitors go ahead.

Leinster went on to extend their lead soon after, winning a penalty and opting for touch before scoring from the resulting line-out. It was Man of the Match Jack Conan’s second try of the evening, which in turn was once again converted by Ross Byrne.

Before the first half was up the Dragons won a penalty, but Dorian Jones’ attempt hit the crossbar from 10m inside the Leinster half.

Half Time: Newport Gwent Dragons 3 – Leinster 14

Leinster began the second half with a high tempo, which saw them cross for their third try of the evening as scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park went over. 

The visitors early second half try was followed by a Dragons try, the hosts played the ball out wide to wing Adam Hughes who sprinted over in the corner. Fly-half Dorian Jones slotted the tricky conversion seeing the scores on 21-10 to Leinster with 45 minutes on the clock.

Leinster's bonus point try came courtesy of Ross Malony, thanks to some neat offloads from the Irishmen. Byrne converted to see Leinster extend their lead to 28-10.

The visitors weren’t finished there however, with replacement James Tracy going over thanks to a driving maul. However, the Dragons weren’t down and out just yet, as they replied with their own try thanks to Matthew Screech diving over in the corner.

Following Screech’s try, Leinster immediately responded by scoring two tries in quick succession through their replacements Hayden Triggs and Luke McGrath. Both of which were converted by Ross Byrne seeing Leinster extend their lead further to 47-15. McGrath managed another try before the full-time whistle through their dominance at the scrum with Byrne slotting home his seventh conversion of the evening.

The final try of the evening came from the hosts with replacement scrum-half Sarel Pretorius running under the posts and the conversion being successfully converted by Jones moments before the final whistle.

Full Time: Newport Gwent Dragons 22 – Leinster 54

Referee: Marius Mitrea

Attendance: 4059

Man of the Match: Jack Conan

To see a full timeline of this evening's match including points scored and substitutions, just click here.