Dragons see off Treviso

Editor

Dragons picked up their fourth PRO12 win of the season on Friday as they beat Treviso 26-8 to move up to ninth in the standings.

Tries from Sarel Pretorius and captain Lewis Evans sealed the win, but they were aided by an impressive kicking performance from Angus O’Brien.

Zebre scrum-half Tito Tebaldi had put the visitors in front with an early try, but they failed to capitalise on several lengthy spells of possession.

O’Brien kicked the hosts into the lead with five minutes on the clock, before a ball chipped over the top caught the Dragons defence out, allowing number nine Tebaldi to put his side into a 5-3 lead.

After failing the conversion attempt, Tommaso Allan topped up his side’s score with a penalty soon after.

Dragons piled the pressure on the Italians and soon found their reward, when Pretorius broke free to run in under the posts. O’Brien’s kick was a simple one, followed by another penalty and a yellow card for the Dragons try-scorer.

The second-half opened with O’Brien slotting a drop goal, before adding another penalty soon after to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Captain Evans’ decision to kick to the corner proved a good one, as it was shortly followed by the flanker carrying over from the back of a driving maul. Replacement kicker Dorian Jones split the uprights for the first time for the final score of the game.

The scorers:

For Dragons:
Tries: Pretorius, Evans
Cons: O’Brien, Jones
Pens: O’Brien 3
Drop-Goal: O’Brien
Yellow Card: Pretorius (36 min)

For Treviso:
Try: Tebaldi
Pen: Allan

Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Pat Howard, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Lewis Evans (c), 5 Cory Hill, 4 Nick Crosswell, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Phil Price
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Rynard Landman, 20 Nic Cudd, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Dorian Jones, 23 Jack Dixon

Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Andrea Pratichetti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (c), 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Marco Barbini, 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Matteo Zanusso, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Alberto De Marchi
Replacements: 16 Ornel Gega, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Teofilo Paulo, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Iannone

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Sean Brickell (Wales)