LEINSTER 14 DRAGONS 16

LYN Jones has hailed his Newport Gwent Dragons history boys after they beat Leinster for the first time in Dublin.

The Dragons stunned the Guinness Pro12 champions 16-14 at the Royal Dublin Society thanks to a first-half try by Pat Leach and 11 points from the boot of wing Tom Prydie.

It was a first ever success in the Irish capital and ended a seven-year wait for a win against a province on their own turf.

The Dragons had lost their previous 19 games in Ireland and director of rugby Jones was thrilled that his charges upset the odds with another memorable away success after previous wins at Stade Francais, Newcastle and Cardiff Blues.

“I am incredibly proud and it was a fully-deserved victory,” he said. “We looked organised and excited by the challenge of becoming the first side to win this fixture.

“We were the better side, took Leinster on at their own game and there were strong performances from everyone.

“Leinster came out really strongly in the second half, throwing everything at us, but we showed determination and only conceded three points.

“That was a critical period and we also adapted really well during two spells down to 14 men after Nick Crosswell and Rhys Thomas were yellow-carded.

“It was an excellent performance, a really big win for the club and it further supports the good work that we are doing here.”

The only negative was a shoulder injury to centre Jack Dixon, although the initial prognosis is that it is just a bump.

The Dragons remain in 10th in the Pro12 table but have closed the gap to Welsh rivals Cardiff Blues, who lost at Munster, to a point and host Connacht at Rodney Parade on Sunday.

Prydie converted Pat Leach's 10th-minute try and booted three penalties, including the match winner with 11 minutes left, steering the Dragons to only their second win on Irish soil in 11 years.

The 16-14 victory carries even more merit as the Welsh region had forwards Nick Crosswell and Rhys Thomas sin-binned in the first half. However, defending champions Leinster could only score two penalties to trail 10-6 at half-time.

Jimmy Gopperth's third successful strike made it a one-point game, but he was unable to convert Dave Kearney's try in the 66th minute and Prydie had the final say as the defending PRO12 champions dropped to fifth place in the table.

The third-from-bottom Dragons took a surprise lead when centre Leach broke through the home defence, via excellent build-up play from Thomas and Dorian Jones, for a converted try.

Although shorn of his Six Nations-tied players, Leinster boss Matt O'Connor was forced into further changes when Noel Reid and Tom Denton went off injured, and a third change saw Aaron Dundon come on for Richardt Strauss.

Two Gopperth penalties in the 16th and 30th minutes opened Leinster's account, but even with the sin-binnings, the Dragons were proving a tough nut to crack and Prydie split the posts just before the break to give his side a four-point buffer.

Reid's replacement Luke Fitzgerald appeared to have touched down 10 minutes into the second period following a magnificent run from Ben Te'o - only for referee Ben Whitehouse to award a five-metre scrum to the visitors, instead.

The hosts had to be content with a third Gopperth penalty before Prydie cancelled it out with another accurate strike at the other end.

O'Connor's side finally made the breakthrough past the hour mark. Te'o was once again the fulcrum of the attack and after receiving his neat offload, replacement scrum half John Cooney's kick towards the right corner was finished off by full-back Kearney.

Gopperth was off target with the tricky touchline conversion, though, and the determined Dragons quickly retook the lead at 16-14 thanks to a close range Prydie penalty. That proved to be the game's decisive score as the region held on to win in Ireland for the first time since overcoming Ulster, by the same scoreline, back in September 2008.