Dragons unfortunate to leave with nothing

Newport Gwent Dragons let a 10 point lead slip away from their grasp at the RDS. Leinster comfortably finished 29-13 winners, but it was far from convincing as the Welsh region worried the Irishmen with some fine counter attacking.

Hoani Macdonald opened his try scoring account for the Dragons with an early interception try against Magners League holders Leinster. James Arlidge took his kicks well, but a quick reply through a Sean O’Brien try saw the Dubliner’s go into the break trailing by 13 points to 10.

Jonathon Sexton added a penalty after the interval to tie the scores, but the Men of Gwent couldn’t hold out as Bernard Jackman grabbed a try to give the Irish province the lead. Australian Rocky Elsom sealed the win with an injury time try as Newport attempted to run the ball from their own posts.

Dragons were disappointed to have walked away from Dublin with nothing to show after their early efforts, but the last visit to RDS saw the Black and Ambers clamber away 41-8 losers, which handed Leinster the league title. Once again Gwent were strong in defence and worried the Irish with initial pressure and promise.

In the blustery conditions James Arlidge steadied himself to slot over two early penalties opening a deserved 6-0 lead as the Dragons set the pace. With Sexton receiving attention, Fergus McFadden reduced the deficit to three with a penalty. But an intercept try from the New Zealander, Macdonald extended a 10 point advantage.

The response was immediate from Leinster, shortly after Dragons conversion, O’Brien cut a great angle inside the Newport 22 to score from close range. Sexton gratefully added two points before Macdonald was lost to the sin-bin for an illegal hauling down of Devin Toner in a lineout. Dragons went into half-time leading 13-10.

The lead was wiped out straight after the break as Sexton levelled with a well-struck penalty. Leinster started to enforce themselves on the game from there on, with Bernard Jackman stealing over from 8 yards following sustained forward pressure.

Arlidge missed out on the chance of cutting the Irish advantage, but replacement David Howell and McFadden were successful with their attempts - increasing the home lead. Dragons remained ambitious and were still in the game, but ambition turned to disaster as they lost the ball on their 22. Girvan Dempsey opened the pitch up with some free running and allowed Elsom to score in the corner with seconds left on the watch.

Dragons were unfortunate to not leave with a bonus point as they competed with the Champions, but ill-discipline and organisation haunted them as it finished 29-13.

Leinster: G Dempsey, S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, F McFadden, S Keogh, J Sexton, C Whitaker (cpt); C Healy, B Jackman, S Wright, D Toner, M O'Kelly, R Elsom, S O'Brien, S Keogh.Replacements: Replacements: C Jowitt for S. Keogh (62), D Holwell for Sexton (65), C Keane for Whitaker (65), Hogan for Toner (67).Not Used: B Blaney, CJ van der Linde, G Brown.

Dragons: P Dollman; G Wyatt, R Sidey, M Stcherbina, R Fussell; J Arlidge, W Evans; A Black, T Willis (capt), G Robinson, H Macdonald, A Hall, J Bearman, L Evans, G Webb.Replacements: S Connor for Arlidge (61), S Jones for Willis (75), J Corsi for Robinson (75), D Lydiate for Hall (27), J Ringer for Webb (47).Not Used: A Smith, R Lewis.

Referee: A MacPherson (SRFU).