Newport Gwent Dragons 23
Leinster 13
Wales hopeful Hallam Amos had little chance to impress on his final Six Nations audition but was part of a dynamic Dragons defensive effort to defeat Leinster at Rodney Parade in atrocious conditions at a rain-soaked Rodney Parade.
The driving rain dominated the contest but the Dragons deserved their first-half 17-10 lead with tries from man-of-the-match Ashton Hewitt and outside-half Jason Tovey who also added two conversions and a drop-goal.
Leinster, who suffered two yellow cards, dominated the second-half but the Gwent region’s remarkable rearguard resistance kept the Irish province at bay and two late Tovey penalties, taking his final match tally to 18, denied the visitors even a losing bonus point. The victory lifted the Welsh region to 10th in the table while Leinster stay second as the Scarlets remain top.
Amos was named on the wing by the Dragons as he sought to prove his fitness and form to Wales coach Warren Gatland ahead of the big Six Nations opener with Ireland, although it was the electric Hewitt who proved more impressive with ball in hand.
Amos had only played twice for the men of Gwent since returning from the dislocated shoulder he suffered during Wales’ defeat of hosts England at Twickenham in the World Cup last September.
The talented medical student could be in line for a wing place against Ireland where he will battle against the likes of Cardiff Blues duo Alex Cuthbert and Tom James to partner George North on the flanks.
The 21-year-old could even be asked to fill in at full-back with injury concern surrounding Liam Williams who returns tomorrow for the Scarlets.
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Dragons director of rugby Lyn Jones had initially made four changes to the team that was thrashed at Sale Sharks in the European Rugby Challenge Cup last week. Full-back Carl Meyer returned to the starting line-up after being a late withdrawal at Sale through illness.
The front-row saw veteran prop Boris Stankovich start at loose-head, Matthew Screech at lock with Nick Crosswell coming in at blindside as Lewis Evans moved to No.8 in place of Taulupe Faletau, who wasn’t released by Wales. But Evans was a very late withdrawal after tweaking a calf and was replaced by Cory Hill.
Leinster had more than 20 players missing through Irish call-ups, with coach Leo Cullen having made 12 changes from the side hammered at Dai Young’s Wasps last weekend’s Champions Cup.
The Dragons opened the score through Hewitt converted by Tovey before Leinster responded with a sniping score from scrum-half Luke McGrath and five points from the boot of Fergus McFadden.
The Gwent region hammered at the Leinster line and were denied two tries from the television match official Tim Hayes with Hewitt and Adam Warren both trying to claim scores.
Hewitt missed out after it was adjudged scrum-half Sarel Pretorius knocked on in the build-up and Warren failed to get the ball down. Leinster saw flanker Dan Leavy sin-binned because of a cynical offence and the Dragons scored 10 points with the extra man.
Hewitt turned creator with a searing break before good hands from Boris Stankovich and Rynard Landman allowed Tovey to score who added the conversion and slotted over the drop-goal to give the Dragons a seven-point lead.
Leinster brought on Irish outside-half Ian Madigan at half-time and his inclusion allowed a concerted attacking period which saw McFadden slot over a penalty.
The visitors continued their relentless attacking with Tovey bravely holding one offensive drive over the line which typified the desperate Dragons defensive effort.
And the Dragons weathered the storm with a Tovey penalty and wing McFadden was yellow-carded in the 72nd minute for an illegal clearout on Pretorius. Tovey then clinched the victory with his second penalty in the final minute.
Dragons: C Meyer; A Hewitt, A Hughes, A Warren, H Amos; J Tovey, S Pretorius; B Stankovich, R Thomas (capt), B Harris, R Landman, M Screech, N Crosswell,C Hill, N Cudd. Reps: E Dee, P Price, S Knight, S Andrews, J Benjamin, C Davies, G R Jones, N Scott.
Tries - A Hewitt, J Tovey; Conversions - J Tovey (2); Drop-goal - J Tovey; Penalties - Tovey (2)
Leinster: Z Kirchner; A Byrne, G Ringrose, B Te’o, F McFadden; C Marsh, L McGrath (capt); P Dooley, J Tracy, M Bent, R Molony, H Triggs, D Ryan, J Murphy, D Leavy. Reps: R Strauss, J Loughman, O Heffernan, T Beirne, P Timmins, I Boss, I Madigan, N Reid.
Try - L McGrath; Conversion - F McFadden; Penalties - F McFadden (2).
Yellow cards: D Leavy 27, F McFadden 72 .
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy).
