First Welsh Derby Of The Season!

First topic message reminder :

It is here already (Well friday).
 
Dragons V Scarlets
Dave Parade
19:15 KO (originally 19:05)
 
Ref -: Nigel Owens
Assistants:Ian Davies & Jon Mason
 
Newport Gwent Dragons Squad
 
15. Dan Evans,
14. Tom Prydie,
13. Ross Wardle,
12. Jack Dixon,
11. Hallam Amos,
10. Jason Tovey,
9. Richie Rees;

1. Phil Price,
2. T.Rhys Thomas,
3. Francisco Chaparro,
4. Andrew Coombs (c),
5. Matthew Screech,
6. Jevon Groves,
7. Lewis Evans,
8. Toby Faletau.

Replacements: 16. Hugh Gustafson, 17. Owen Evans, 18. Dan Way, 19. Rob Sidoli, 20. Netani Talei, 21. Jonathan Evans, 22. Kris Burton, 23. Adam Hughes.
 
 
Scarlets Squad
 
15 Steve Shingler;
14 Liam Williams;
13 Jon Davies;
12 Scott Williams;
11 Jordan Williams;
10 Rhys Priestland;
9 Gareth Davies;
 
1 Phil John;
2 Ken Owens;
3 Samson Lee;
4 Jake Ball;
5 George Earle;
6 Aaron Shingler;
7 John Barclay;
8 Rob McCusker (capt).

Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Richard Kelly, 20 Josh Turnbull, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Nic Reynolds, 23 Gareth Owen.

Had the length looked close but just to the left...

How is Barclay playing? watching the Glasgow game and cant keep an eye on his performance!

Also why does Rhys Preistland have no eyebrows?!

The dragons clear to Priestland who puts it perfectly back but the bounce goes aray and its a scrum where he kicked from...

The crowd are in good cheer... Touch judges got the placing of that scrum wrong there and could be the reason for the noise...

Tramptastic wrote:How is Barclay playing? watching the Glasgow game and cant keep an eye on his performance!

Barclay hasn't been amazing. Dragons backrow look in great shape.

A penalty to Dragons 20 - 16

13 all at the arms park apparently

I think Tovey is winning the battle of the tens so far tonight...

Jon Evans on for Rees twenty minutes left...!

Taleri makes his debut for Dragons, Groves off

Screech and Coombs are looking very good.

Dragons young backs Dixon, Prydie, Amos and Wardle are looking great. So much pace and brilliant confidence.

maestegmafia wrote:Taleri makes his debut for Dragons, Groves off

Talei has played in all 3 games as far as I know.

What a penalty by Prydie.

23 - 16

The Saint wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Taleri makes his debut for Dragons, Groves off

Talei has played in all 3 games as far as I know.

Charlo must have got it wrong on Scrum V...

I was pretty sure he played against Ulster but thought maybe I confused that with the pre season games.

Adam Hughes on

I think Hughes is slipping down the pecking order considering the other options we now have in the backs. He hasn't really asserted himself at wing or centre for me. Dixon et al have been doing a grand job.

What a game...

Big mistake bringing Price and Chaparro off.

Yeah they were the better props but the dragons played well.

Their young backline could really be something special. Lots of talent there

Great game, Rees has to come back into the Welsh set up, I could not believe he was taken off. The Dragons still need better props and a back up hooker. HC next year for the Dragons as long as P Davies stays at the Blues. Tovey out played Preistland I hope Gatland take note of some of the performances from both sets of players.

Well done both teams great game to watch.

I was impressed by Rees, I was keeping a good watch on him as so many of our mates are rating his performance this season so highly.

Great game.Great result for us.Thank goodness that there were very few scrums!Hope the dry weather lasts else we could be in trouble.

maestegmafia wrote:I was impressed by Rees, I was keeping a good watch on him as so many of our mates are rating his performance this season so highly.

Lest we forget..........

RICHIE REES has revealed how he opted to join Edinburgh after being asked to take a pay cut by the Cardiff Blues.

The Welsh international scrum-half is switching to the Scottish team along with long-serving prop John Yapp, as the exodus from the Blues continues.
“I had always imagined I would stay next year, but things worked out differently,” said the nine-times capped Rees.
“They did want me to stay, but there was a money cut involved to be honest with you.
“It wasn’t just the money situation though.
“There are big changes taking place here, with a lot of boys leaving, and the quality of the squad next season is probably not going to be what it was."

Great win. Trying not to get carried away, but there's a feeling that we are turning the corner. Least the dog is back at home, which is a start. Two nice tries from us. Thought the Scarlets' try was soft from the terrace, but I've seen it back and it looked better worked than I gave them credit for.

Good atmosphere (of course). I'm not convinced by the attendance figures. I thought there was 7500 at Ulster and there were at least 8500 there. I don't think there were 3500 empty seats tbh. Anyway, I don't care. Wonderful win. Scary to think if we hadn't have gone off the boil a bit until our two pens, there was possibly a BP on after that start.

The place looked packed on TV???

Great game,great win - Drags much improved
J2D & Sanjay are class acts,well done Drags

I thought the dragons back five were excellent at closing down Gareth Davies who has been in good form this last few games.

maestegmafia wrote:The place looked packed on TV???

It looked full enough in the ground. There wasn't many empties v Ulster and they claimed half attendance. Like I say, I'm not convinced.

Just as an aside again, Tovey was criticised by Gatland before for his kicking and particularly defensive work and he is showing he's sorting that. Obviously everybody is probably expecting Priestland and Biggar to fight it out and of course raving about Patchell, but Tovey is also starting to look the part again. More work to come, but it's great to have some options aye.

Also, great to see Lyn geeing up the boys for the second half on scrum V live. I also see scrum v is showing us on the cabbage patch on Sunday. Should be good seeing a bit of how Lyn and Kinglsey work

Interesting to hear Simon have a slight moan about the last scrum at the end. He should have a look at the replacement tight head binding on Owen Evans' arm too. Did that in a few of the scrums.

Cracking game from both sides with of course the right result for us Dragons  

Our starting props had very good game which is good news as scrum still worries me.

TR Thomas is a good capture his experience will be vital.

Back row looked good and have some good options there to.

Rees and Tovey seem to have struck up good parternship from the off and hope both can really push for Welsh set up.

From Scarlets point of view:

JD looking sharp and great hit on Toby thats what we all love to see.

Li Williams is a class act and a complete handful everytime he gets ball, is he to brave for own good?

McCusker again for me disappoints and cant understand how hes around Welsh set up.

Didnt see much of Barclay but am sure he will be huge asset of them.

Well done Dragons, good luck going forward, this could be the season you guys have been waiting for.

bedfordwelsh wrote:Cracking game from both sides with of course the right result for us Dragons  

Our starting props had very good game which is good news as scrum still worries me.

TR Thomas is a good capture his experience will be vital.

Back row looked good and have some good options there to.

Rees and Tovey seem to have struck up good parternship from the off and hope both can really push for Welsh set up.

From Scarlets point of view:

JD looking sharp and great hit on Toby thats what we all love to see.

Li Williams is a class act and a complete handful everytime he gets ball, is he to brave for own good?

McCusker again for me disappoints and cant understand how hes around Welsh set up.

Didnt see much of Barclay but am sure he will be huge asset of them.

McCusker looked very good last week, not so much this. He has definitely improved his game. But I agree he is only around the Welsh squad as we are lacking contenders as strong as Faletau.

Regarding Richie Rees, yes he had a good game but All he does is move the ball, it's like watching Peter Stringer.

Works well for Tovey but better backrow pressure would have stopped his game last night and he has nothing else to offer. He doesn't have much ability to read opposition, or read the game.

Feeling rough as today! Hit the 'real ale festival' at 5pm so was well oiled for the game!

Firstly, it was good to get a win against the Scarlets. We manage to beat the Ospreys fairly regularly at home (consistently Wales' top region IMO) but can't remember the last time we beat the Scarlets at home.

What impressed me most was the variety in the backs. For the last few seasons the Dragons have often been by predictable in the backs, but already in 3 home games that I've watched we seem to be trying different things which keeps the opposition guessing and therefore creates chances. Sounds obvious but we've been guilty of being a bit one dimensional in the past. Richie Rees ands Jason Tovey are linking up nicely and creating some nice things.

Just a mention for Jason Tovey. I've been one if his biggest critics in the past. I've never rated him and felt he was a bit of a lazy player. However, since he's come back he's been a breath of fresh air to the dragons team. He's by no means the finished article, but he's getting the back line moving, kicking the points (how he does it with such a short run up I don't know!) and managing the game well. His kicking from hand is perhaps not the best, but apart from that I think he's turning into a very good 10. And as I said a while back, kudos to him for swallowing his pride and coming back to the team he left to further his career. Can't have been easy. I think Lyn Jones, who is a big fan of Tovey's, has restored his confidence and given him the drive to play well (as he seems the sort of player who needs that).

To the Scarlets, what can I say. I'm a big fan so don't like seeing you lose, but I'll take this one thank you! As others have said JD2 looked good, Sanjay was a bit of a menace, your scrum demolished ours and could have won/drawn the game if you'd been a bit closer to the try line in the last few minutes. Also, after watching the U20 world championships I'm a huge fan of the number 11 (whose name escapes me temporarily) and was bricking it every time he got the ball - deffo a future welsh international IMO.

Would the Dragons like Sam Warburton in exchange for their coaching team?

Jordan Williams, Griff.

It's crazy to think though that Jase is still a very young player too. He's certainly developing nicely now. I think it's natural that with such a buzz around though, that a local boy will revel in the environment.

Risca Rev wrote:Jordan Williams, Griff.

It's crazy to think though that Jase is still a very young player too. He's certainly developing nicely now. I think it's natural that with such a buzz around though, that a local boy will revel in the environment.

That's him. Cheers Rev. Could have just googled it but my headache precludes me from doing too much!

I was in my new seat in the Bisley stand and must admit to a touch of envy for the Hazell Terrace - seemed to be great atmosphere over there. The atmos isn't terrible in the Bisley, but sitting just doesn't create the same sort of buzz as standing so it's always quieter. Overall though the ground developments have been great even the North terrace seemed quite busy last night.

Great game and well deserved win for the Dragons, fantastic work in the rucks, I lost count of the number of turnovers. Scarlet's were rubbish in the first 20 but came back well, they need to sort out their wide defence because they are conceding a lot of tries.

My only gripe was Owen's refusal to allow a fair contest at the scrums. Easterby looked furious at the end, Dragon's were walking the scrum around and the front row was detaching, how was that not penalised?

maestegmafia wrote:Regarding Richie Rees, yes he had a good game but All he does is move the ball, it's like watching Peter Stringer.

Works well for Tovey but better backrow pressure would have stopped his game last night and he has nothing else to offer. He doesn't have much ability to read opposition, or read the game.

Maes,

But to a degree isn't that what we have been screaming for since Phillips has been in situ, a No9 that gets the ball out and away quickly. Yes I know there is a time and place etc but I don't think we have the complete package available to us at scrum half so we have to try and made to with the players who have diff styles.

bedfordwelsh wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Regarding Richie Rees, yes he had a good game but All he does is move the ball, it's like watching Peter Stringer.

Works well for Tovey but better backrow pressure would have stopped his game last night and he has nothing else to offer. He doesn't have much ability to read opposition, or read the game.

Maes,

But to a degree isn't that what we have been screaming for since Phillips has been in situ, a No9 that gets the ball out and away quickly.  Yes I know there is a time and place etc but I don't think we have the complete package available to us at scrum half so we have to try and made to with the players who have diff styles.

Some people have, others like myself see players like Rees limited to only being ball shifters. If the flyhalf outside him is incapacitated, (at the bottom of the ruck) he doesn't have the vision to control play.

I think that a good team needs two decision makers working in unison to play great rugby, not just a talented flyhalf.

Maes,

Again as on the Os thread I have always said we need different options not the same option on the bench.

I never like it when we had Phillips and knoyle in the same side as both have same style, if we have say Phillips starting then we don't need another of his style on the bench we need someone who can shift ball away.

We all know (bar Gatland and Co) that our best duo who would have complimented each other over the years would have been Peel and Phillips. Both great at what they do but both so different in style.

bedfordwelsh wrote:Maes,

Again as on the Os thread I have always said we need different options not the same option on the bench.

I never like it when we had Phillips and knoyle in the same side as both have same style, if we have say Phillips starting then we don't need another of his style on the bench we need someone who can shift ball away.

We all know (bar Gatland and Co) that our best duo who would have complimented each other over the years would have been Peel and Phillips.  Both great at what they do but both so different in style.

Peel became half the player he once was when he left Scarlets. So few Welsh players improve abroad these days it's about time they woke up to it and stayed at home.

He did Maes but he was still miles ahead of any other option we had after Phillips.

bedfordwelsh wrote:He did Maes but he was still miles ahead of any other option we had after Phillips.

And unavailable because he went to an English club instead of a French one.

Not completely unavailable no, we still get access to James and Gill and even Taylor when he was at Sale.

Not, admittedly the total access coaches require or so it seems the access allowed by the French teams but he wasn't unavailable.

bedfordwelsh wrote:Not completely unavailable no, we still get access to James and Gill and even Taylor when he was at Sale.

Not, admittedly the total access coaches require or so it seems the access allowed by the French teams but he wasn't unavailable.

He was also invariably unfit.

All in the past now though mate. We have ple ty of talent coming through. Current ayers doing well too. Thought Jonny Eva a looked great for Dragons and was glad he got plenty of time second half.

Didn't Rees make a 40m break against Embra and get sniping try ? Hardly Peter Stringer

First cance I have had to come online since the match. Fair play there is no arguing the best team won the match. Th Dragons were brilliant to watch, their backs were electric and thir pack did very well at the breakdown.

From a Scarlets point of view I was disappointed we let Priest try that monster pen attempt, it lead to an iffy five mins from him afterwards. A kick to touch would have been better in hindsight. But truth be told I can not remember us ever losing ti the Dragons before when I have sat there and thought that we were totally outclassed.

It should be interesting to see how the season pans out for the Dragons, and the rest of the regions. There doesn't seem too much between any of them at the moment.