Worthington's Player of the Month - October

Voting is now open for the Dragons' Supporters Player of the Month for October, sponsored by Worthington's.

A strong start to October, with an impressive performance away at the Scarlets followed up by a brilliant performance and result at Rodney Parade against Brive.  These performances were followed up by disappointing away losses in Russia to Ensei, and the Ospreys, but throughout the month there remain some very strong contenders for the award, with Lewis Evans, Ed Jackson, Corry Hill, Adam Warren & Hallam Amos to the fore.

Voting is open to all members of the Dragons Official Supporters' Club, which remains free to join here

Dragons Supporters Away Travel - Sat Ospreys 29th Oct

With support from the Dragons and Osprey's ticket offices, and the Region's sponsors Leisure Time and Worthington's, we are capable of offering a subsidised away trip bundle (Match Ticket & Return Travel) to the Ospreys on Saturday 29th Oct 2016.

The transport will depart Rodney Parade at 13:00, and then leave the Liberty Stadium at 18:00.  The pricing for ticket and travel bundle will be £25 for adults and £15 for Under 16's, and is available for purchasing here

Our first trip to the Scarlets was a great success, and it was fantastic to get our Supporters not only travelling together, but placed together in the Stadium to increase the atmosphere in the ground.  Both Stuart Davies and Lewis Evans made specific mention of the phenomenal support provided at Parc Y Scarlets, and we are keen to ensure we can sustain this by negotiating discounted packages for our loyal away fans. 

Priority for bookings will be given to members of the Supporters Club (Free to join here), and early booking is recommended to ensure we can pre-book sufficient transport.

Worthington's Player of the Month - September

The very first Worthington's Player of the Month award, voted by the Dragons' Supporters, has been awarded to Rynard Landman for the Month of September.  

A great start to the season from Rynard, demonstrating his all action style despite playing through a niggling calf injury, allowed him to pip Hal Amos, Jack Dixon & Paddy Howard to the award. 

Our congratulations go to Rynard, who we look forward to presenting the award to,  richly deserved!! 

Newport Gwent Dragons 37 - 16 Brive

A fantastic performance and result that was needed at Rodney Parade, not just for the Dragons' loyal support, but for the Coaching and Playing Staff at the Dragons too.  The much discussed change in playing style for the 2016/17 season had been showing glimmers of what the team were capably of with ball in hand (highlight reel of tries this season will testify), but had not been producing the results in the 'W' column so far this season.

The previous week's trip to the Scarlets had once again provided an insight as to what the Dragons players (not only backline) were capable of, but had just fallen short once again.  This performance however demonstrated all of the previous positives, but was heart-warming to see the team demonstrate how to manage the game, and see out the victory. 

With the Brive side noticeably tireing towards the last quarter, rather than allow nerves to take hold, and attempt to arm-wrestle the French side through the final stages, the Dragons identified the weary legs of the opposition, and continued to use the full width of the Rodney Parade pitch, attacking the 13 channel and  dragging the French forwards around the park.  This intelligent game management not only added a gloss to the final score, but provided all involved with a uplifting finish to a tight, and nervy game through the second half. 

The game had started well, with the Dragons dominating the opening exchanges, and racing to a 13-0 lead, and blowing the opposition away with an intense and high paced opening.  As the game progressed frustration crept in, as the opposition worked their way back into the contest slowly through a strong forward pack, and a number of unforced errors from the Dragons.  With the fear of history repeating itself this season, anxiety slowly grew around the Stadium, with Brive taking a 13-16 lead, but as the game entered the final stages, the aforementioned ambition and game management of the Dragons eventually not only saw them home, but sealed a bonus point victory in the process.

Dragons: Carl Meyer, Ashton Hewitt, Tyler Morgan, Adam Warren, Hallam Amos, Nick Macleod, Charlie Davies; Thomas Davies, Rhys Buckley, Brok Harris, Cory Hill, Rynard Landman, James Thomas, Ed Jackson, Lewis Evans (capt).

Replacements: Darran Harris, Phil Price, Craig Mitchell, Matthew Screech, Harrison Keddie, Sarel Pretorius, Angus O’Brien, Sam Beard.

Tries: Landman, Evans, Hill, Amos, Warren Cons: Macleod, O’Brien (2) Pens: Macleod (2).

 Brive: Benjamin Lapeyre, Elia Radikedike, Arnaud Mignardi, Christopher Tuatara, Guillaume Namy, Thomas Laranjeira, Vasil Lobzhanidze; Vivien Devisme, Guillaume Ribes, Damien Jourdain, Wilhelm Steenkamp, Johan Snyman, William Whetton, Petrus Hauman (capt), Fabien Sanconnie

Replacements: Francois Da Ros, Damien Lavergne, Soso Bekoshvili, Jan Uys, Peniami Narisia, Jean-Baptiste Pejoine, Taku Ngwenya, Sevanaia Galala.

Newport Gwent Dragons 17 - 26 Glasgow Warriors

Another gutsy and determined performance from the Dragons at Rodney Parade was not enough to see them over the line against a quality and disciplined Glasgow team, with a late penalty rubbing salt in the wound by robbing the Dragons of even the consolidation of a losing bonus point.

Although the score line slightly flattered the visitors, this was in part due to the missed opportunities by the Dragons to make the most of their territory and possession throughout the game.  A pattern emerged of a fiercely committed Dragons team laying siege to the Glasgow line, and a dropped pass, or soft penalty resulting in them leaving Glasgow territory without any points to show for their effort.

The Dragons dominated majority of statistics at the end of the first half, but some errors in decision making, and inability to take their chances, meant Glasgow had powered into a decent lead.  It was also evident that the home side were continuously falling the wrong side of Referee Andrew Brace's interpretation of the breakdown, with the penalty count as high as 8 to 1 at one stage of the 1st half. 

The second half started in a positive manner, with Sam Hobbs spinning over from close range for his first Dragons try, and then, after a superb offload by Hal Amos, centre Jack Dixon rounding off a barmstorming performance in midfield with a superb finish in the corner.  With Nick Macleod converting from the left touch line, the Dragons were in front at last on the scoreboard, and building some decent momentum. 

This wasn't to last however, with a missed tackle in midfield on prop Alex Allan resulting in him running over untouched from the 22.  This sloppy try took the steam out of the Dragons' comeback, and had noticeable impact on the crowd. 

A far more disciplined and streetwise Glasgow team then saw out the remainder of the game, much to the disappointment of all associated with the Dragons, after yet another brave and commited performance at home.. 

Dragons: Carl Meyer; Pat Howard, Sam Beard, Jack Dixon, Hallam Amos; Nick Macleod, Sarel Pretorius; Sam Hobbs, Rhys Thomas, Brok Harris, Matthew Screech, Rynard Landman, Nick Crosswell, Lewis Evans (capt), Nic Cudd.Replacements; Rhys Buckley, Thomas Davies, Craig Mitchell, Cory Hill, Harrison Keddie, Charlie Davies, Angus O’Brien, Tom Prydie.

Tries: Hobbs, Dixon

Cons: Macleod (2)

Pen: Macleod.

Glasgow: Peter Murchie; Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar, Rory Hughes; Finn Russell, Henry Pyrgos (co-capt); Alex Allan, Corey Flynn, Sila Puafisi, Rob Harley, Jonny Gray (co-capt), Lewis Wynne, Josh Strauss, Fraser Brown.Replacements: Pat MacArthur, Djustice Sears-Duru, D’arcy Rae, Robert McAlpine, Matt Fagerson, Ali Price, Rory Clegg, Leonardo Sarto.

Tries: Flynn, Allan;

Cons: Russell (2);

Pens: Russell (4)

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland).

Newport Gwent Dragons September Player of the Month

The Dragons Official Supporters Club (DOSC), in partnership with Worthingtons, are pleased to launch the first Supporters' Player of the Month Award.

Voting for the September Dragons P.O.M can be completed here, and is open exclusively to DOSC members, who will be provided the necessary password to access the voting system through email.  As a reminder, Membership to the DOSC can be applied for here, and remains a free-to-join.

Votes will collated over the coming 2 weeks, and it is expected that the September Award will be presented to the winning player towards the end of October 2016. 

Supporters' Club Away Travel

The Dragons Official Supporters' Club (DOSC), with significant support from the Newport Gwent Dragons, Scarlets, Leisure Time Travel & Worthingtons, are proud to release the first formal away travel event to the Dragons Pro12 fixture against the Scarlets. 

Scheduled to depart Rodney Parade at 16:30 on Sat 08th Oct, there will be 2 x coaches planned, with online payment for this event including the cost for a discounted match day ticket at the Scarlets.  Priority to these coaches will be given to members of the DOSC, which remains free to join here.

Any specific requests or questions can be posed to: mailto: contact.us@dragonssupportersclub.comwhere a member of the team will get back to you. 

Tickets for this event can be booked at: www.dragonssupportersclub.com/away-travel/ 

Treviso 27 - 11 Newport Gwent Dragons

It was hoped that the positive performance at home to Munster could be followed up by a victory in Italy against a fired-up Treviso team, who had clearly targeted the fixture as a 'must win'. 

The Dragons unfortunately went down 3 tries to 1, with the home side punishing some individual errors from the Men Of Gwent, and utilising their strength up front to power over from close range twice.  The Trevisio tries came through Tommaso Benvenuti, Marco Lazzaroni and Marco Fuser, with the Dragons 1st half effort coming from lock Rynard Landman, after some neat inter-play, but who then unfortunately had to depart at half time with a calf issue.

The result came as a huge disappointment for the playing/coaching staff, and the supporters, who had hoped the long wait for a victory away from Rodney Parade in the Pro 12 was going to come to an end.   

With a number of players rotated, a necessity in the modern game, the fixture had given a number of players the opportunity to stake their claim for a 1st XV position, and in some cases prove their fitness after injury lay-offs.  Unfortunately the intensity and power displayed by Treviso undermined these efforts, with the home team running out deserved winners in the end.

It is now hoped that the Dragons can return from this lengthy away journey, review the lessons learnt from this game, and prepare for the upcoming Glasgow fixture  at Rodney Parade.  The Supporters can now play their part in getting the team back on track, by getting behind the team, and using the atmosphere we can create at Rodney Parade to disrupt the visitors this coming Friday...

 Benetton Treviso

Hayward, Esposito, Benvenuti, Sgarbi, McLean, Allan, Bronzini (Tebaldi 49), Quaglio (De Marchi 54), Gega (Bigi 66), Ferrari (Traore 63), Fuser, Paulo (Steyn 66), Minto, Lazzaroni, Budd

Newport Gwent Dragons

Meyer (R Jones 71), Hewitt (Beard 60), Morgan, Warren, Amos, O’Brien, C Davies, Hobbs (Davies 49), Buckley (TR Thomas 49), Fairbrother (Mitchell 36), Hill, Landman (Screech 40), J Thomas (Keddie 69), Cudd, Jackson

Match Day Supporter Initiative - SUFTMOG

The DOSC continue to engage with the Region on Supporter based initiatives and improving the Match Day experience.  With an aim to fostering a more intimidating atmosphere for away teams, and delivering an increase in vocal support to the Dragons we are in discussions with the Region with regards to how best to use the final few minutes prior to the away team coming out onto the pitch for kick-off.

The concept in question is whether a rendition of "Stand Up for the Men of Gwent" during the period (when the Away Team are in the tunnel waiting to come out onto the pitch) would help create this atmosphere prior to kick off.  

The Region have a recording that can be used over the tannoy to initiate this rendition of the song over the PA system, or this prompt for the Supporters could be completed by a slide on the Big Screen.  

A Supporter review is therefore required to understand a) whether the Supporters feel that the rendition of this song would be a good idea to generate this atmosphere pre kick off, and b) if the PA system or the screen should be used to notify the Supporters of when to commence the song (away team in tunnel).

Newport Gwent Dragons 16 - 20 Munster

An emotional Rodney Parade provided a great atmosphere for an engaging, tight game, where Munster edged out the hosts due to their greater composure, experience of wining tight games, and a small amount of fortune.

The game itself was noticeable for the Dragons increase in tempo, aggression and physicality from last week's victory over Zebre.  Some very brave defence, and great work recovering from some early issues in the Scrum meant the Dragons kept themselves in touching distance throughout.

Sam Hobbs, Rhys Buckly and Brok Harris warming up. 

The Dragons 1st half try from Hal Amos came from some great midfield pressure from Tyler Morgan, and a great read from Hal, to intercept a stray pass and outrun the defence to score. 

Hal Amos Breakaway Try

The second half continued with a high level of intensity, with both sides displaying physicality in both attack and defence.  The 2nd half Munster try came in slightly fortuitous circumstances, where some great effort from Hal Amos in defence resulted in the ball being stripped from the Munster player in the act of scoring, only for the ball to fall directly to a Munster hand for the Try.

The Dragons remained in the Game through sheer guts and intensity, until the very last play of the game, where they decided to go for a 13 man line out drive.  A huge drive ensued toward the Munster line, but the late peel from the base resulted in the ball being spilt and the final whistle being blown.

The team had a great reception from the Hazel Terrace at the end of the game, with the supporters clearly appreciating the effort and commitment demonstrated by their team throughout..  Onwards to Treviso away.. 

 37th Min Mike Lockey Tribute: The game was also noticeable for a heartfelt and moving tribute to Mr Mike Lockey, who passed away this week at the age of 37.  A passionate Dragons Supporter, his fellow Supporters held a minute's applause in memory of Mike, which was a touching tribute to him from the Region and the fans..  Rest in peace to a true Man of Gwent..