Newport Gwent Dragons produced a stunning display of resilience to record their first GUINNESS PRO12 victory over Leinster since 2009. The visitors saw two of their players sent to the sin bin in the first half, but a try from Pat Leach and 11 points from the boot of Tom Prydie were enough to secure a famous 16-14 win for the Welsh region. Jimmy Gopperth landed three penalties and man-of-the-match Dave Kearney crossed the whitewash for Leinster as they suffered a setback in their bid to break into the PRO12’s top three. The game was less than a minute old when Dragons No.8 Nick Crosswell was shown a yellow card following a lengthy discussion between the referee and his touch judges, but that early setback didn’t seem to affect the visitors. Leach was making his first GUINNESS PRO12 appearance of the season after sustaining a knee injury in pre-season, and the centre celebrated the return by scoring the game’s opening try after ten minutes. Prydie was on target with the conversion, and the visitors had taken a surprise 7-0 lead. Leinster were looking to secure a third consecutive victory in the league to maintain their push for the top positions, and Gopperth struck a 16th minute penalty from just outside the Dragons’ ten-metre line to reduce the arrears, before T Rhys Thomas became the second visiting player to receive a yellow card. Gopperth was on target with his second penalty of the afternoon to bring Leinster to within a point as the half ticked on, but Prydie had the last laugh before the break, stroking the ball through the posts to make the score 10-6 at half time. Matt O’Connor’s men knew the importance of a win given the congested nature of the GUINNESS PRO12 table, and they started the second half with real intent. Luke McGrath dived in just short of the line from a scrum, before Luke Fitzgerald knocked on before he could score following a powerful Ben Te’o break. Leinster grabbed the first points of the half after 53 minutes, Gopperth slotting a penalty earned from a powerful drive in the scrum. Another three points from the boot of Prydie continued to frustrate the hosts’ ambitions, before Kearney crossed for his side’s first try. Te’o again cut through the Newport defence and his offload found replacement scrum-half John Cooney, whose kick through was gathered by Kearney to finish. That score gave Leinster the lead for the first time in the contest, but the Dragons, who had won just three of their opening 13 PRO12 games this season, remained unfazed, and Prydie knocked over another penalty to help his side move back in front with ten minutes remaining. The hosts pushed for a late score that would see them home, but stoic Newport defence ensured that Leinster suffered their first RDS defeat since March 2013. Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12
