Dragons 26 Ulster 22

NEWPORT Gwent Dragons turned back the clock to stun Guinness Pro12 title hopefuls Ulster at Rodney Parade.

The region stunned the men from Belfast on the opening day of 2013/14 thanks to a tenacious, spiky display and they used the same blueprint to upset the odds again.

It was typical Dragons, going from the ridiculous of a loss to bottom club Zebre to the sublime of beating a powerful Ulster.

They did it through gutsy defence, a strong set piece performance and no shortage of skill with their winning score by Carl Meyer, the Ebbw Vale centre on Pro12 debut, an absolute cracker.

The Dragons were more than good value for their victory and it was a success to make it a perfect Welsh weekend.

Ireland head to the Millennium Stadium on Saturday looking to maintain their 100 per cent record in the Six Nations but the Dragons were aiming to make it a Grand Slam against the Irish provinces after wins by Cardiff Blues, the Ospreys and Scarlets against Connacht, Munster and Leinster.

It was always going to be a tough ask against an Ulster side in hot form as they eye a Pro12 final at their Ravenhill fortress.

That is a term that certainly cannot be used to describe Rodney Parade this season but they produced a sterling display to give themselves a timely boost with Cardiff Blues the next visitors to Newport in the crunch Euro quarter-final.

Ulster had complete dominance of territory and possession in the opening exchanges with the influential half-back pairing of Ruan Pienaar and Ian Humphreys keeping the Dragons pinned back in their own half.

Meyer, drafted in late on in place of injured full-back Geraint Rhys Jones, put in some mammoth clearances but the hosts had to be careful given the broken field ability of Ireland speedster Craig Gilroy.

The Dragons defended resolutely and got their reward when an Ulster offside following a searing break by fly-half Dorian Jones enabled wing Tom Prydie to boot them into a 3-0 lead in the 13th minute.

The hosts had settled in nicely yet were 5-3 behind on 21 minutes when a canny play by the Irish province allowed Gilroy to cross, the Ireland international finishing off after centre Darren Cave’s blocking run made a midfield hole for wing Rory Scholes to charge through.

Pienaar’s conversion attempt was a shocker and back came the Dragons almost immediately with Prydie booting a second penalty to make it 6-5 after 26 minutes.

They were good value for the lead after a strong, tenacious display with the set piece going well and the pack showing a real appetite for the graft with flanker James Thomas continuing his stellar first season in the professional ranks.

The advantage could have been even greater at the break had Prydie been successful with a pair of tricky long-range penalties but the Dragons would have been happy enough with their exploits.

They need a second uncharacteristic shocker by Pienaar to keep their noses in front just four minutes after the restart with the South African pulling a simple 30-metre effort from in front of the sticks.

However, he made no mistake just seconds later to make it 8-6 when Meyer’s inexperience showed, the full-back’s attempt to run out of his 22 leading to a turnover and offside penalty.

Back came the Dragons and fly-half Dorian Jones smashed over a cracker after taking over from Prydie and then they turned to their most potent attacking weapon this season – the driving lineout.

A first effort led to Ulster prop Callum Black being sin-binned and the reward for going back to the corner was a try for replacement hooker Rhys Buckley, who was having a swift cameo while captain Rhys Thomas was being treated.

Jones was wide with the conversion but made no mistake in the 63rd minute when he improved a super solo effort by scrum-half Jonathan Evans, who dashed over after spying a gap at a ruck following several lusty charges by the forwards.

Suddenly the Dragons were 21-8 up but a nervy finale was guaranteed when Gilroy raced over for his second after Cave had too much pace and power for Jones, Pienaar adding the extras to make it 21-15.

Yet the win was secured with a glorious score by the backs with six minutes left when it looked like the forwards were going to do the honours.

The pack had hammered away at the line before Ulster turned it over and Pienaar put boot to ball.

Replacement wing Ashton Hewitt fielded it and combined with fellow speedster Hallam Amos, who showed pace and power before setting up Meyer for a majestic finish that sent the Parade faithful into raptures.

At 26-15 it seemed to be job done but the Dragons never make things easy and a try by replacement Ross Adair from a quick throw ensured a nervy finale.

Yet Ulster had to be content with a bonus point while the Dragons closed the gap on ninth-placed Cardiff Blues as they attempt to shake off their tag as Wales’ worst.

Dragons: C Meyer, T Prydie, J Dixon, A Smith (A Hewitt 50), H Amos, D Jones, J Evans (L Jones 76), B Stankovich (P Price 51), R Thomas (captain, R Buckley 46-55, 64), B Harris (L Fairbrother 75), A Coombs (M Screech 76), C Hill, J Thomas, J Benjamin (S Matthews 69), N Crosswell.

Scorers: tries – R Buckley, J Evans, C Meyer; conversion – D Jones; penalties – T Prydie (2), D Jones

Ulster: L Ludik, C Gilroy, D Cave (captain), M Stanley (S Arnold 52), M Allen, I Humphreys (P Marshall , R Pienaar, C Black, R Herring, W Herbst (B Ross 63), D Tuohy (L Stevenson 62), D Van der Merwe, I Henderson (R Diack 52), C Ross (A Warwick 57-63), N Williams.

Scorers: tries – C Gilroy (2), R Adair; conversions – R Pienaar (2); penalty – R Pienaar

Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)

Attendance: 6,019

Argus star man: James Thomas