Relief for Moriarty after he loses head

By MATT LLOYD

Lions………………. 31pts

Tries: Lombard 15, Ntlabakanye 30, van der Merwe 44, 48

Conversions: Lombard 10, 30; Hendrikse 44, 48

Penalties: Lombard 4

Dragons………….. 31pts

Tries: J Williams 12, R Williams 23, S Davies 36, Dixon 51

Conversions: S Davies 12, 23, 36, 51

Penalties: S Davies 11

ROSS Moriarty heaved a sigh of relief after his reckless comment almost cost Dragons a precious draw in Johannesburg.

Dragons had fought back to level the scores and had just seen Sam Davies go agonisingly close to snatching an historic win with a 78th-minute drop-goal. But just as the clocked ticked over 80 minutes Moriarty lost his head and put all the hard work at risk.

Not only did he concede a penalty at the breakdown but his comment saw referee Anthony Woodthorpe march the Lions forward another ten metres, putting the kick within Jordan Henwin it, but it was another drikse’s range. With the last kick of the match, Hendrikse’s kick faded right of the posts and the Dragons had ended and threatening out wide A high tackle on Jones a 20-game losing run in Europe for the Welsh regions.

It was a thrilling climax to what was the first European tie to be staged in Europe.

“We’ve had a sickness bug in the camp this week so for the boys to pull out that performance was fantastic, it’s just a shame we couldn’t quite round it off with a win,” said head coach Dai Flanagan. “It’s a great start to the campaign. We could have won it but we also could have lost it so in the end its definitely three points gained.

“South Africa is such a tough place to tour and we’re the first team from our league to be out here for three weeks.

“Physically we knew we had to match them by throwing the first punch in tackles, carries, scrums and lineouts and we did that. We’ve had some sickness in the camp this week so for the boys to pull out that performance was fantastic.”

Dragons have got better with each week in South Africa and they led 24-17 at half-time. Half-backs Rhodri Williams and Sam Davies the home side’s way and was the match-winn pulled all the strings and both crossed the line as well as setting up Jordan Williams in the first half.

Giovani Lombard and replacement prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye kept Lions in touch before two tries from wing Edwill van der Merwe turned the tables on the Dragons. However the Dragons – who have finished strong in all three games in South Africa – refused to buckle and Jack Dixon finished Rhodri Williams break to score under the posts.

Davies’ conversion tied the scores for the fifth time before missing a late drop-goal that could have snatched only a second Welsh regional win in South Africa. JP Smith was sin-binned for tripping but handling errors meant Dragons failed to capitalise, setting up the nail-biting climax