Dyer ends long wait with superb winner
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Dragons…………….23pts
Tries: Dyer 72
Penalties: Hanrahan 10, 16, 23, 27, 35, 80+1
Munster ………..17pts
Tries: Archer 37, Healy 40
Conversions: Healy 38, 40+1
Penalties: Healy 3
Rio Dyer scored a terrific and decisive late try to give Dragons a hard-fought, deserved win against Munster, their first at home for a year and a half.
The Newport side worked their way into a 15-3 lead courtesy of JJ Hanrahan’s boot, but Munster hit back to lead at the break as Stephen Archer and Ben Healy crossed.
In a tense second period, half an hour elapsed before the next points, but they were worth the wait as Dyer produced a brilliant individual score.
And Dragons held on, with the win sealed by a final Hanrahan penalty as he finished with 18 points.
Transformed Dragons look comfortable early on
The early minutes seemed as if they were setting the tone for a predictable outcome, as Dragons fumbled a restart, conceded a penalty, and Healy knocked over Munster’s first points in the blink of an eye.
But the Dragons responded well, matching the physicality of the strongest scrum in the league last year and putting together efficient and varied attacking phases to set up an equalising penalty for Hanrahan, which he duly slotted.
It continued for the Dragons, who were enjoying the lion’s share of possession and finding continuity in their phase play, and soon Hanrahan had them in the lead with just over a quarter of an hour gone.
They looked comfortable on the ball, while Munster looked shaky. A poor lineout on the Dragons 22 was quickly followed by an unforced dropped ball by full-back Mike Haley on their own 22, and soon Hanrahan was lining up another three points.
He doubled the three-point lead, then trebled it, and then quadrupled it to give Dragons a significant cushion at 15-3 up, the Newport side playing all the rugby.
Munster hit back even quicker than expected
Munster’s comeback was to be expected, but with less than five minutes remaining in the half after Hanrahan’s fifth penalty went over, few could have seen it being complete before half-time.
But straight from the resulting re-start they tapped possession backed and Simon Zebo burst down the left wing.
He was stopped, but a double blow followed as right winger Rio Dyer was yellowed for what was a high tackle on Zebo and Archer barrelled over after close range after only a few phases from the forwards.
Healy knocked over the conversion and soon had a try of his own, crossing after Craig Casey had burst down the left flank after taking the ball from the maul.
Dragons hold nerve to snatch it
As the second half got underway, the pattern of the teams taking it in turns to dominate for a period came to an abrupt end.
Munster were probably the better side in the third quarter, but Dragons were working hard off the ball, keeping their discipline and creating opportunities of their own, and thus remaining very much in the contest.
And the tide began to shift into the final quarter, it was now Dragons that looked most likely to move the static scoreboard, and after Hanrahan pushed a penalty wide, the chance finally came in the final ten minutes.
The hosts ran back a hurried clearance from Munster, with Star Man Angus O’Brien feeding Dyer in the space, and the winger shrugging off three defenders to score with a fantastic finish.
Hanrahan sent the conversion wide, but added an injury time penalty to secure a remarkable win.
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