South African URC clashes the real test of Dragons' progress

The Rodney Parade club started the United Rugby Championship campaign with a dramatic derby win against the Ospreys and then produced a gritty display in defeat at Leinster.

The 34-6 score line shows that the Irish heavyweights were a class above their visitors, but it doesn’t indicate how they were frustrated by Dai Flanagan’s men.

It was no white flag job and, unlike so many times last season, it was not game over at half-time.

Despite having 10 minutes against 14 men, Leinster were 10-6 in front when they came back out for the second half and put their foot down.

PROMISING: The Dragons and Harry Wilson created first-half chances at Leinster but failed to take them (Image: Shauna Clinton/Huw Evans Agency)

“It was a hard-fought victory and we wouldn't have expected anything less,” former Wales coach Robin McBryde, now part of the province’s management team, told BBC Sport Wales.

“They would have been buoyed by their victory against the Ospreys and there is a different energy, looking from the outside in.

“I feel there is a different energy around the place at the Dragons, there are new coaches and a different vibe and feel to them. They gave us a good fight and gave a good account of themselves.”

Giving a good account of themselves is a step forward for the Dragons at places such as Leinster but they need more than that in Newport.

They are on home soil for the next three weekends with the Sharks on Saturday followed by a second South African side in the Lions, then Benetton visit.

The hope is that the game against the Italian side won’t feel like a must-win after a pair of dispiriting defeats.

This next fortnight will be a good indicator of whether the Dragons are different, if they do have a tougher edge and if they can bang for the full 80.

Since the start of the URC the club have beaten Irish, Scottish or South African opposition just four times.

In the last four league campaigns they have totted up 10 wins from 56 games. Six of them have been against Welsh rivals (Scarlets three times, Ospreys three times), they have beaten Connacht (2021) and Munster (2022), and Zebre twice.

The Rodney Parade club’s last win against South African opposition was before Covid in the Pro14, when Sam Davies’ last-gasp drop goal beat the Cheetahs in February, 2020.

The big quartet of the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions headed to Europe in 2021 and since then the Dragons’ record in played 15, drawn one, lost 14.

They shared the spoils with the Lions in Europe in 2022, when it was a missed opportunity at Ellis Park, then they fluffed their lines in the return fixture that was moved to Ystrad Mynach because of a frozen Rodney Parade pitch.

The lowest amount of points that they have conceded was 20 against the Sharks two years ago, and what happened on that October night presents an opportunity to see how far the Dragons have come.

RELIEF: The Sharks sneaked a 20-19 win against the Dragons in 2022 (Image: Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans Agency)

They led 19-6 in the final quarter on that occasion but then the pressure came on and there were South African celebrations thanks to an interception try by Grant Williams and a late score by Thaakir Abrahams after Will Reed had been steamrollered.

The Dragons headed into that fixture six days after stunning Munster and couldn’t keep their intensity up for the whole game.

That was a theme of last season’s games in Newport against South African opposition.

A glance at the scorelines – 29-9 to the Sharks in the Challenge Cup, 31-10 to the Bulls, 44-21 to the Stormers – suggests mismatches.

They were in the end, but the Dragons gave a good account of themselves before ultimately being overpowered.

Going into the final quarter the scores were 12-9 to the Sharks, 17-3 to the Bulls and the Dragons led the stormer 21-16.

Do they now have the ability to not only stay in the fight but finish the job? Can they do what Connacht managed to do last weekend against the Sharks and get momentum and keep it?

The Irish province turned around a 27-7 deficit at the break to win 36-30 and hopefully they havent prodded the bear.

The Dragons will be underdogs against both the Sharks and the Lions but it cannot be denied that this is as good a time as any to play a South African side.

The Springboks contingent that won the Rugby Championship are at home preparing to make their club return.

Eight heavyweight Sharks players - Aphelele Fassi, Jaden Hendrikse, Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Vincent Koch, Lukhanyo Am - were in the 23 that beat Argentina last weekend.

The South Africans will still come to Rodney Parade with serious bulk and power, notably from powerhouse centre Andre Esterhuizen after his return from Harlequins, and they won’t lack the killer instinct that came back to haunt the Ospreys.

Nonetheless, the Sharks and then the Lions are two opportunities that Flanagan’s men need to grasp if they are to make measurable progress in the URC. It's a chance to make a statement.

The Dragons are still seen as the whipping boys and a mistake on the Sharks website – and we all make them – was perhaps influenced by perception.

“The Hollywoodbets Sharks now travel to Newport in Wales to take on the Dragons who have lost their opening two matches and, like the Hollywoodbets Sharks, will feel they have a point to prove,” it read after their loss in Galway.

A win on Saturday would certainly make the rest of the URC sit up and take notice.