A late brace of tries from Rio Dyer helped Dragons RFC to a 24-7 bonus-point win at Rodney Parade in the EPCR Challenge Cup against Oyonnax Rugby.
The game was tied at seven all until the 74th minute when Dragons RFC finally got over again, which triggered a whirlwind period as Dragons RFC crossed two more times via Dyer to get the full five points on offer.
It took until the 21st minute for the game’s breakthrough, with Oyonnax Rugby centre Leo Trielles getting over in the corner, and Jules Soulan adding the extras.
That was the only score of the first half, but the crowd at Rodney Parade did not have to wait long for some action in the second with wing Ashton Hewitt going over in the 43rd minute, fly-half Will Reed kicking the extras to bring parity to the scoreboard.
Reed then had two chances from the tee to give Dragons RFC the lead, but he missed penalties on the 58th and 60th minute and the scores remained level.
Dragons RFC put the pressure on for most of the half, but it wasn’t until the 74th minute that they finally made the breakthrough via lock Joe Davies.
Reed missed the conversion, as he did for Dyer’s first try in the 76th minute, but he added the extras with the clock in the red after Dyer went over for a second time in the 80th minute to secure a 24-7 win.
Scorers:
Dragons RFC: Tries: Ashton Hewitt, Joe Davies, Rio Dyer (2). Conversions: Will Reed.
Oyonnas: Try: Leo Treilles. Conversion: Jules Soulan.
Teams:
Dragons RFC: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Sio Tomkinson, 12 Steff Hughes, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Will Reed, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 George Nott, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rhodri Jones. Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 George Young, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Harri Ackerman, 23 Corey Baldwin.
Oyonnax: 15 Maxime Salles, 14 Souleymane Coulibaly, 13 Leo Treilles, 12 Pedro Bettencourt, 11 Joe Ravouvou, 10 Jules Soulan, 9 Charlie Cassang, 8 Loic Godener, 7 Hugo Hermet, 6 Filimo Taofifenua, 5 Steve Mafi, 4 Victor Lebas, 3 Irakli Mirtskhulava, 2 Manu Leiataua, 1 Rory Sutherland. Replacements: 16 Julien Ratajczak, 17 Adrien Bordenave, 18 Antonin Corso, 19 Ewan Johnson, 20 Ilan El Khattabi, 21 David Odiase, 22 Alexis Pisani, 23 Thibault Berthaud.