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Newport Gwent Dragons can end Castres' Challenge Cup campaign and strengthen their position at the top of Pool 2 with a victory at Rodney Parade. - 14/01/2016 10:13
Newport Gwent Dragons can end Castres’ Challenge Cup campaign and strengthen their position at the top of Pool 2 with a victory at Rodney Parade.
Castres are the only team to have beaten the East Wales region in this season’s competition, when they edged their way to a 32-29 triumph in France. The losing bonus-point the Dragons claimed that day has helped them keep two points between them and second-placed Sale Sharks, who the Welsh region meet in round six.
The Top14 side claimed a 30-21 triumph at Pau in their re-arranged round one fixture to keep themselves alive. But they would need to beat the Dragons and Pau in their final two games to advance. That could be a big ask, with Lyn Jones preparing to recall Wales star Hallam Amos. The Wales wing suffered a shoulder injury in Wales’ Rugby World Cup clash with England and has been sidelined ever since.
Hooker Elliot Dee is also out to impress after an injury hit 2015, and he is expecting the French side to race out of the blocks.
He said: “Our style of play suits playing the French teams. They are big but we try and move them about and outsmart them. We lost to Castres out there and they are a formidable outfit with some key players so we've got to stick tight.
“The French are big and come at you hard in the first 15 to 20 minutes. It's about weathering that storm and not cracking then, because they are so big, they can tire and there are opportunities to get around them and keep the scoreboard ticking.”
Match Facts
- The only previous clash between these clubs came in Round 2 of this campaign, Castres scraping home in a thrilling 32-29 victory.
- Dragons have won eight of their last 10 matches in the Challenge Cup including a brace of victories against Pau in their last two matches, outscoring them 56-17.
- This will be Newport Gwent Dragons fourth consecutive match against teams from France, their longest run of matches against teams from a single nation in the tournament.
- Castres have won all of their eight matches against teams from Wales in the Challenge Cup.
Newport Gwent Dragons are now certain to qualify from Challenge Cup Pool 2 after a battling 31-18 bonus-point win over Castres. - 15/01/2016 21:42
Newport Gwent Dragons are now certain to qualify from Challenge Cup Pool 2 after a battling 31-18 bonus-point win over Castres.
The Welsh region raced into a 24-3 lead thanks to tries from returning international Hallam Amos, Nic Cudd and Elliot Dee. But David Smith gave Castres hope on half-time before a score from Christophe Samson had the Rodney Parade faithful biting their nails. The Dragons made it home though, largely thanks to a red card to replacement Alexander Bias, before Ashton Hewitt wrapped up the bonus-point.
The Dragons and returning Wales wing Amos could not have dreamed for a better start. A Castres knock-on on the half-way line was swept up by Sarel Pretorious, who’s pass allowed Jason Tovey to ghost through and set Amos on his way to his seventh Challenge Cup try in 14 appearances. Tovey converted and landed a penalty minutes later for a 10-0 lead.
Visiting full-back Geoffrey Palis pulled three-points back before Castres tighthead Lucas Martinez was sent to the sin-bin for illegal scrummaging after 25 minutes, and the Welsh region made their man advantage count. They kicked the resulting penalty into touch and shunted Cudd over the line.
The Dragons were playing with real verve and after a couple of close-calls, they got their third score. A driving maul was halted just short of the Castres line, before Evans barged this way over from close range. Tovey converted for a 22-3 lead. But there was still time for Castres flyer Smith to squirm free to score on half-time to cut the gap to 22-10.
Castres came out of the changing rooms firing and were quickly another five points closer. A sublime slip pass from Yannick Caballero allowed the ball to be worked to second-row Samson who strolled over. Palis hit another penalty before the momentum swung back the Dragons way. Replacement Bias was shown red for charging into a tackle with his head after 57 minutes. And the bonus-point was finally wrapped up by Hewitt, who claimed the ball after it ricocheted off Brok Harris to score.
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