Dragons v London Irish Friendly

The Dragons have named a nice strong side for their last pre season friendly against the Irish at Dave tonight. Few players still out injured with the likes of Evans, Smith, Harries, Chavanga and Bedford (thank god) on the side lines.

Team

Daniel Evans, Matthew Pewtner, Adam Hughes, Pat Leach, Tom Prydie, Steffan Jones, Wayne Evans, Phil Price, Steve Jones, Nathan Buck, Ian Nimmo, Andrew Coombes, Dan Lydiate, Darren Waters

Replacements from

Sam Parry, Nathan Williams, Dan Way, Jevon Groves, Tom Brown, Jonathan Evans, Lewis Robling, Jack Dixon, Hugh Gustafson, Aaron Coundley, Tim Ryan, Hywel Stoddart, Ieuan Jones, Mike Poole, Andy Tuilagi, Ross Wardel


Will be good to see the new boys Evans, Prydie and Nimmo go and hopefully Toby and Dan have had a good rest and hit the ground running

bedfordwelsh wrote:The Dragons have named a nice strong side for their last pre season friendly against the Irish at Dave tonight. Few players still out injured with the likes of Evans, Smith, Harries, Chavanga and Bedford (thank god) on the side lines.

It must be gutting for you being left on the sides lines mate.

To be fair that does not look too bad a side, considering who is not being played. Hopefully the Dragons will be able to see that htye have plenty of options in their back line, and that Tuilagi is not needed, especially with powerful wingers like Poole and Prydie

Ironic how some of the boys moaned about the heat last week. Dreadful weather for tonight. Guess we will learn more about the grunt of Nimmo and how our pack might perform.

Great to have rugby back though.

Risca Rev wrote:Great to have rugby back though.

Kind of glad that the weather is poor. Hope to see the Irish pack stand up and be counted.

Oh and the Irish team is:

Lahiff, Lawson, Halavatau
Evans (c), Garvey
Gray, Fisher, Treviranus

O'Leary, Geraghty
Tagicakibau, Ansbro, Joseph, Ojo
Homer

Bench: Connor, Malton, Aulika, Low, Sandford, Gibson, Ellis, Allinson, Shingler, Gaston, Worrincy

The weather at 2.30pm is very wet and according to the weather forecast it is going to get worse, will the game be on as the ground is prone to flooding?

It's just stopped raining here.

Prone to flooding or recently got flooded in a freak flash storm?

As it goes, the drainage has been improved somewhat. Still, the sun is trying to come through now anyway.

Is it true that foster horan is gone to london irish? If its true good luck to him.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Is it true that foster horan is gone to london irish? If its true good luck to him.

Yes, it is. Listed on our offie as a squad player. Any information you can give us about him?

Exhibit A

http://www.balls.ie/2012/02/13/must-see-foster-horans-try-for-the-ireland-u-20s-against-france-last-weekend/

C'Mon Dragons ! Faletau will be chomping at the bit to play , he hates not playing.

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:Exhibit A

http://www.balls.ie/2012/02/13/must-see-foster-horans-try-for-the-ireland-u-20s-against-france-last-weekend/

Had seen that before, but thanks anyway! Have heard his favoured position is 12 though? What sort of player is he? Seems hard to put down!

The weather forecasting is rubbish it is dry and clearing in Cwmbran, good news. Enjoy the game, shame it is not on the box.

SirBurger wrote:

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:Exhibit A

http://www.balls.ie/2012/02/13/must-see-foster-horans-try-for-the-ireland-u-20s-against-france-last-weekend/

Had seen that before, but thanks anyway! Have heard his favoured position is 12 though? What sort of player is he? Seems hard to put down!

he was unlucky not to make it into the leinster academy this year. however we took in 7 who were all forwards so maybe the backs will be next year.

not sure of his favourite position.

Not that anyone is interested, but kickoff is delayed by 15 minutes due to Irish's late arrival. Don't get rush hour in Reading obviously

18-12 Dragons at FT. Was 18-3 up after 55 minutes, where we looked sharp, but then went off the boil a bit. Still, it was a nice win.

Good news, any tries?

Two aye. Steffan Jones (who was a bit hit and miss otherwise) and Adam Hughes. Hughes' try was nice. Dan Evans and Tom Prydie played very well.

Thanks, the scoreline looked as if it was all kicks. I see Newport Co are playing at home again, the ground is going to get a bit of a hammering this season made worse if the weather is bad.

Thanks again, a win is a win.

"Risca Rev
Steffan Jones (who was a bit hit and miss otherwise) and Adam Hughes. Hughes' try was nice. Dan Evans and Tom Prydie played very well."

I agree Evans n Prydie looked good. Tom in particular looked like a senior player. Faultless display from the young lad.

Regarding Steffan, I thought he had a really good game. Apart from one knock on he showed a lot of control and took his try very well. He's quite a flash player but he showed he can put the ball in the corner in dreadful conditions. Tuilagi also had a good game, he actually looked fit!

I would have saud it didn't matter had we lost so I won't get carried away with the win.. That said im very pleased! we never play the conditions but we didn't play stupid rugby. As usual the last 10mins were abit of a mess but promising signs.

Steffan also did other slight things like getting charged down. I don't think he had a bad game though, just that he was doing things very well, but blotted his copybook a couple of times. Nobody had a bad game.

Pitch was in great nick Alun. In fact with the slight surface water on it (no flooding though) I'd call it perfect for football tomorrow.

Ye fair point.

The pitch was looking great, really enjoyed it tonight. Didn't make the Gwent 15 game so it's been to long! Any idea who was the official MOTM and the attendance?

God knows what Shifty/Alyn Davies will read into this. He was all over us when the B team lost to the Gwent 15. Now we've beaten an English Premiership side, does he think we'll win the league???!

My take on it is the same as before; you can't read too much into these games. No need for London Irish to panic or us to get over excited. A good run out.

Never mind the match, what about the stadium announcer?!

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Never mind the match, what about the stadium announcer?!

Going to sound a bit sexist here maybe, but I think you need a Man's voice for our system. A loud one too, as in between the speakers you can't hear for Poopie.

It's true. Do you know if she was just sitting in, or will she be the stadium announcer for this season? She pronounced 'Geraghty' to rhyme with 'Moriarty' before kickoff and it was downhill from there!

I don't know. I didn't like the last guy either, but at least he doesn't have to pronounce Tovey anymore

She was a last minute stand in so can't be too critical - Traffic problems on the M4?

No, last season's bloke wasn't great either.

Griff wrote:God knows what Shifty/Alyn Davies will read into this. He was all over us when the B team lost to the Gwent 15. Now we've beaten an English Premiership side, does he think we'll win the league???!

From London Irish site


London Irish staged a late fight back on a damp night at Rodney Parade but it was not enough to claim a victory.
Tries to Steffan Jones and Adam Hughes were enough to see the Dragons home by 18 points to 12. Irish showed a lot of heart to fight back from 15 points down and claw themselves back into the contest and even had chances to steal a win in the final minutes but were unable to take their chances.
Irish started the contest the better of the two sides. Geraghty and O’Leary were orchestrating play well. The Irish outside backs showed good hands down the short side and allowed Tagicakibau to spring clear down the left flank early on. The hosts showed good scramble defence to shut down the Irish attack.
Winger, Tom Prydie, put Newport on the score board with a penalty on seven minutes after Irish were penalised at the breakdown. Steffan Jones crossed for a solo try three minutes later, spotting a mismatch in the Exiles defence and took full advantage.
Tom Homer kicked his first points of the season five minutes before the break to put Irish back in touch, however Prydie kicked his second on the stroke of half time to put his side eight points clear at half time.

Tom Homer lining up a peanlty for London Irish
The Dragons came flying out of the blocks in the second half, crossing the try line in the first minute. Dan Fish chipped the ball into space and fed centre Adam Hughes who finished well in the corner. Tom Prydie added the conversion to give the Dragons a 15 point lead.
Irish worked their way back into the contest with three penalty goals off the boot of Steven Shingler to make it 18-12 with 20 minutes remaining.
Irish enjoyed plenty of possession in the final third for the remainder of the match but were unable to break down the home defence. The Dragons held on for a 18-12 victory.
All 26 players got some match time under their belt and there were no injuries.
Score sequence (London Irish first): 0-3, 0-8, 3-8, 3-11, 3-18, 6-18, 9-18, 12-18
Scorers: London Irish; Penalties: Homer (35), Shingler (43, 50, 53); Dragons: Tries: Jones (10), Hughes (41); Penalties: Prydie (7, 39); Conversions: Prydie
Newport Gwent Dragons team:
15. Daniel Evans; 14. Matthew Pewtner; 13. Adam Hughes; 12. Andy Tuilagi; 11. Tom Prydie; 10. Steffan Jones; 9. Wayne Evans; 1. Phil Price; 2. Steve Jones; 3. Nathan Buck; 4. Ian Nimmo; 5. Andrew Coombes; 6. Dan Lydiate; 7. Darren Waters; 8. Toby Faletau
Replacements: Sam Parry, Nathan Williams, Dan Way, Jevon Groves, Tom Brown, Jonathan Evans, Lewis Robling, Jack Dixon, Hugh Gustafson, Aaron Coundley, Tim Ryan, Hywel Stoddart, Ieuan Jones, Mike Poole, Ross Wardel
London Irish team:
1.Max Lahiff; 2.Scott Lawson; 3.Leo Halavatau; 4.Bryn Evans (Captain); 5.Matt Garvey; 6.Alex Gray; 7.Ofisa Treviranus; 8.Jon Fisher; 9.Tomas O’Leary;10.Shane Geraghty;11.Sailosi Tagicakibau; 12.Joe Ansbro; 13.Jonathan Joseph; 14.Topsy Ojo; 15.Tom Homer
Replacemrnts:16.Charlie Connor; 17.Shaun Malton; 18.Halani Aulika; 19.James Sandford; 20.Kieran Low; 21.Jamie Gibson; 22.Gerard Ellis; 23.Darren Allinson; 24.Steve Shingler; 25.Conor Gaston; 26.Michael Worrincy
Attendance: 1,500

Dan Fish?

Be fair, they did only manage to call us Newport once in the write up.

Did anyone watch the game? That LI team looks quite decent. Did hands like feet do anything other than drop the ball??

Tuilagi played fantastically to be fair to him. Carried well and stopped every man dead in his track in defence. Was pleasantly surprised

I corrected a Reading newspaper on that Stone. Considering they don't like the name Not Nots, you'd think they'd be a bit more accurate with their naming of teams.

Yes he was the beast we were hoping to see last season. He looked a real threat and there were no stupid offloads. We played the conditions really well which we don't often do.

It does pose the question of who will be our first choice centre partnership. Hughes for me has to play at outside centre as our most natural 13 but who will partner him?
Tuilgai adds a balence to the backline and makes hard yards. Now that hea fit he could be a real threat.
Leach is in the same mould and often looks good when injury free.
Ashley "the glue" smith seems to keep us organised ananda is defensively strong but isn't as effective going forward.
Dixon is still raw but already has the size at 17 and the skills to demand some game time. (probs a season to soon)

Posting from my phone = spelling errors.

I'm intrigued which way we will go now too. Biggles is nailed on at 13 which is fair, but we do have some depth alongside him now. Tuilagi took his chance massively considering Pat Leach was meant to start at 12.

Jury has got to still be out on Tuilagi mind. He's flattered to deceive before. Fingers crossed he's going to bring the wrecking ball option this season as he is playing for his contract. Never seen Leach let us down and reckon he could play either 12 or 13 but Dixon I think is the future for Wales let alone the Dragons. Much as Ash has been a good servant as young guns says maybe not the best option in a team that needs to score points to stay in games instead of just defending.

It'll still be a while before I stop sweating everytime Tuilagi takes contact. He hasn't redeemed himself yet.

That sounds like a good match for both teams. A tight match less than a score in it which forced both teams to play right up to the final whistle. Sounds very good.

I didn't know Prydie did the kicking.

P.S. - I would ignore that match report. It must be clear bias. There is no way that "O’Leary were orchestrating play well".

Stag, Prydie was unknown as a kicker to me until recently too, especially as he's been hidden away either on the bench or in England since his international debut! He kicked at the Junior World Cup in SA, and very well too, so I think they're giving him a go now he's signed for us. Also, I guess maybe to relieve the pressure on the (also) young fly halves we have coming through (Stef Jones and Lewis Robling).

red_stag wrote:That sounds like a good match for both teams. A tight match less than a score in it which forced both teams to play right up to the final whistle. Sounds very good.

I didn't know Prydie did the kicking.

P.S. - I would ignore that match report. It must be clear bias. There is no way that "O’Leary were orchestrating play well".

Allinson and McShingler were much more effective halfbacks. True story

Whats pleasing from a Dragons point of view, I actually think we have a threatening back 3 now. Prydie & Evans are in my opinion great signings. I'm still suprised the Ospreys let him go. Either way with Chav on the other wing we have some serious gas back there. Plus Prydie will take the pressure of at 10 with his excellent goal kicking. Even better signings when you consider that we will (or I hope anyway) have them available all season as Wales probably wont come calling for them. Unless they have a blinder........

I really do like the look of our backline now but its the pack that concern me. We are not strong there so I hope Iestyn does a good job with our Props.

Is Iestyn definitely on board now?

He sure is.

yup yup rubberstamped and everything

Awesome!