URC: Dragons suffer agonising 22-20 defeat to Connacht

Dai Flanagan’s men showed tremendous character after Matthew Screech was sent in the 33rd minute for a high tackle but blew opportunities for a backs-to-wall success.

Chances were missed before Sam Davies hit the right post with a late drop goal and saw another drift wide.

It means that the Dragons’ losing streak continues in the URC and the Screech dismissal for a late, upright, shoulder-to-head tackle on flanker Conor Oliver ultimately proved to be the turning point.

The lock was trying to show aggression on his line but just got it wrong, leaving referee Andrea Piardi with no choice but to show red.

Aaron Wainwright went over for the Dragons in the first half and then, with Max Clark in the sin bin for a yellow in the same move that saw Screech sent off, they remarkable won a 13 versus 15 spell 7-0 thanks to Jared Rosser’s interception try.

However, it turned into yet another sob story in a horror run of form since the first block of the URC.

HIGH: Dragons wing Ashton Hewitt is tackled against Connacht (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

They haven’t won in the league since beating Zebre at the end of October and finish the season with trips to the Ospreys and Ulster then a Judgement Day clash with the rejuvenated Scarlets.

Dai Flanagan’s men look a better side that 12 months ago but they are in familiar territory, cut adrift with just Zebre beneath them and likely to be ranked as Wales’ worst.

They will rightly claim that the margins are small but this is a results business and a draw against the Lions and win in Pau in the Challenge Cup is all that the Rodney Parade has to show for their toil since the autumn.

The Dragons fielded one of their strongest sides of the season with an all-Wales pack featuring hooker Bradley Roberts, tighthead Leon Brown and blindside Aaron Wainwright after they were released from Six Nations camp for game time.

Wing Rio Dyer was kept back by Warren Gatland and lock Will Rowlands is sidelined by a shoulder injury but apart from that it was full strength, with young fly-half Will Reed getting the nod ahead of Sam Davies and JJ Hanrahan.

He was meant to be going up against Jack Carty but the Dragons got a pre-match boost when Connacht were forced into a late change.

The Dragons made a poor start and were under the pump from the off.

Thankfully Connacht were not clinical with one wonky lineout after a penalty was kicked to the corner then a knock-on by blindside Cian Prendergast with the line at his mercy after a huge break by powerful wing Shayne Bolton.

The visitors did get the lead their efforts deserved after nine minutes through the boot of fly-half David Hawkshaw but the Dragons responded superbly in the 12th minute.

Roberts carried strongly on halfway to burst through and offload to wing Ashton Hewitt, whose run was ended in the 22.

TRY TIME: Aaron Wainwright powers over for the Dragons against Connacht (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

Rhodri Williams stayed calm and flung a perfect pass to the right for Wainwright to finish with pace and power, Reed adding the extras for a 7-3 lead.

Connacht went 10-7 in front after 22 minutes when Prendergast made no mistake with his second chance after an offloading attack put the flanker on the charge.

Hawkshaw converted but Reed levelled with a booming penalty from just inside the Irish province’s half.

Then came the nightmare moment just past the half hour with a Connacht attack putting the Dragons defence under pressure.

Max Clark was sin-binned for killing the attack and then, after viewing the footage, Screech was show red.

Connacht scented blood against 13 men but after number eight Paul Boyle was denied by one remarkable Reed tackle – the youngster getting his leg underneath the ball to prevent a grounding over the line – a scrum penalty released the pressure.

The Dragons got to half-time level at 10-10 with Flanagan and his coaches having plenty of plotting to do.

Connacht were straight back on the front foot in the bid to make the two-man advantage count… yet it was the Dragons that won the period 7-0.

The Irish province powered into the 22 and that left wing Jared Rosser with a simple decision to make – he had to gamble by racing out of the line, picked off a pass and raced over from distance.

Reed converted and then knocked over a penalty after Ross Moriarty was tackled high to make it 20-10 after 47 minutes.

Connacht soon got back into it with an infuriating score from a Dragons scrum on their own line.

Without a specialist lock and with centre Clark at blindside, they were shoved off their ball for replacement Jarrad Butler to go over with the conversion making it 20-17.

The Dragons, with their Six Nations trio back on the bench after pre-planned substitutions, were back under the pump when Connacht kicked a penalty to their 22 on the hour.

The pack had no response to the driving lineout with replacement hooker Dave Heffernan going over to make it 22-20 to the visitors.

The conversion was wide but so was an immediate penalty attempt by Sam Davies, fresh on the field.

It was 14 versus 14 for a spell when Bolton was shown yellow for taking out Angus O’Brien in the air, with a collision with Hewitt probably saving him from red in the 65th minute.

The Dragons went agonisingly close to hitting the front again when a lineout drive was followed by O’Brien being tackled inches short and Hewitt held up over the line.

The hosts lineout faltered and opportunities were missed with the most agonising a Davies drop goal that struck the right post.

Back they came for another shot but the fly-half’s effort in the 79th minute drifted wide. It was one of those nights.

Dragons: O’Brien; Rosser, S Hughes, Clark, Hewitt; Reed (S Davies 62), R Williams (captain); R Jones (Seiuli 70), B Roberts (Dee 52), Brown (Fairbrother 53), Screech, Carter, Wainwright (Nott 57), Basham (Keddie 52), Moriarty.

scorers: tries – Wainwright, Rosser; conversions – Reed (2); penalties – Reed (2).

Connacht scorers: Prendergast, Butler, Heffernan; conversions - Hawkshaw (2); penalty - Hawkshaw.

Attendance: 5,113.