V Bookie: Newport-Gwent Dragons - Blues

[Draggs]

Newport Gwent Dragons v Cardiff Blues

Newport Gwent Dragons v Cardiff Blues
Rodney Parade, Newport
Friday, April 29, 1605

Dragons Squad from:
P Leach, S Jones, A Hughes, A Brew, T Riley, A Smith, T Cooper, J Tovey, M Jones, W Evans, J Evans, P Price, H Gustafson, L Burns, T Willis, B Castle, D Way, L Charteris (captain), A Jones, A Coombs, D Lydiate, T Faletau, J Bearman, L Evans, G Thomas

I have heard that Steffan Jones (Cross Keys RFC) will be starting at fullback, meaning Hughes back on the wing.

 

[Bluemoon]

Going to be a cracker this one. Performance form is firmly with the Dragons, but the Blues have made a habit of winning again as well.

If the blues backs can start firing then I think they will get a narrow win as history is on their side of late.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

NG Dragons: Stefan Jones; Adam Hughes, Tom Riley, Ashley Smith, Aled Brew; Jason Tovey, Wayne Evans; Phil Price, Lloyd Burns, Ben Castle, Luke Charteris (capt), Adam Jones, Danny Lydiate, Gavin Thomas, Toby Faletau.
Replacements: Tom Willis, Hugh Gustafson, Dan Way, Andrew Coombs, Lewis Evans, Pat Leach, Jonathan Evans, Matthew Jones.




Cardiff Blues: Dan Fish; Chris Czekaj, Casey Laulala, Jamie Roberts, Tom James; Dan Parks, Richie Rees; John Yapp, Gareth Williams, Taufa'ao Filise, Bradley Davies, Paul ***o (capt), Michael Paterson, Sam Warburton/Ben White, Xavier Rush.
Replacements: Rhys Williams, Sam Hobbs, Scott Andrews, Deiniol Jones, Ma'ama Molitika, Lloyd Williams, Ceri Sweeney, Dafydd Hewitt.
Referee: James Jones (WRU)


Steffan Jones makes his first senior start for the Dragons, while Sam Warburton should return from the injury sustained in the Six Nations game against France, but if he's not passed fit, then Ben White shall start instead. Luke Charteris and Tom Willis also return from injury.

 

[dullonien]

Good to see Fish at fullback for the Blues instead of Czekaj, just a pitty Czekaj is still included on the wing. Untill he learns how to pass the ball, he doesn't deserve a place. Would much prefer Mustoe! Why is Dan Parks starting again! When will Dai Young learn that even an average player like Sweeney is better than bloody Parks? Expect to see nothing from the centres again! Compare that with Tovey starting for the Dragons who has shown the ability to unlock any defense with his excellent flat passing and deft kicks over or through the defensive line.

Whether or not Warburton is fit to start this match will have a big bearing on the result imo. Without Warburton, I can see Gavin Thomas and Lydiate having a field day at the tackle area! Toby Faletau v Xavier Rush should be an interesting battle, another chance for Faletau to proove himself against one of the best in the game.

Interested to see how Stefan Jones goes. Big game for the lad to make his first start.

It's gonna be a close game imo. I honestly can't pick a winner. History says Blues, but recent form says Dragons.

 

[Draggs]

Well put Dull.
Stef has been in good form for Cross Keys, but at outside half.
Geraint O'Driscoll, the Pooler FB has been pretty good lately, and could also be considered.

With our injuries and Cardiff's recent performances, it could go either way.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I added a Vbookie bet for you Welsh guys

 

[TrueSlawter]

Gonna be a good game I really dont have a clue who will win tbh xD Blues are good and playing ok but the Dragons after beating the ospreys the other week will be high on confidence and as long as they stick to their gameplan and keep everything tight they should do well.

But Seeming as Parks is starting Blues backline wont be moving too far so tbh.. If Dragons play like they did against the ospreys they should win

 

[monkeypigeon]

Just pver 20 minutes gone and Dragons are up by 12.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

15-10 HT to the Dragons

 

[monkeypigeon]

And Adam Jones will have another 5 minutes in the Bin at the start of the second half (the new Adam Jones of course).

If the Dragons can stick this out then next Weekend will be very very interesting.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Go Dragons!!!

 

[monkeypigeon]

Cardiff up by 2 now. It's ok. My handicap is Dragons + 4.5. So we're safe for the moment..

Wait one sec, I'd been reading the scoreboard wrong...(poor stream).

They're actually even).

 

[monkeypigeon]

Ouch, real kick in the nads for Cardiff. Not even a bonus point. 28-15 to N-G Dragons.

I shall comment on the Race-for the playoffs section later perhaps...hopefully someone else will do it first.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Bets are settled but nobody won any money. No one has put money on Dragons by more than 7.

 

[TVH11]

wot a match for the Dragons. They were superb and Rodney parade is beginning to become a little fortress Well done them. Surely Falatau should have a chance to play in the summer. The guy is some dynamic, real athlete

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

wot a match for the Dragons. They were superb and Rodney parade is beginning to become a little fortress Well done them. Surely Falatau should have a chance to play in the summer. The guy is some dynamic, real athlete

Took the words out of my, erm, keyboard. If they can carry this form over to next season, they could finish inside the top four.

 

[Draggs]

Very pleased with the lads, especially with the injuries.
Faletau can consider himself hard done by if he doesn't get a cap this summer.
Congrats to Stef Jones for the try on his full debut.

 

[Bluemoon]

Well done dragons, really playing with spirit and looking to score tries at the right times. Great to see.

As for the blues, it was obvious against Treviso and most of the season that they have forgotten how to attack. Why we kept using the dummy runners yesterday was beyond me? It's been a problem all season.

I think our biggest issue this season is our lack of Ben Blair and Halfpenny. The tactical kicking and positioning from Ben really made a difference and he knew when to attack the line. Czjekai on the other hand isn't a full back.

Am I inclined to blame the inexperience of the blues backs coach? Let's remember Bill Millard (australian international coach) left last season and the blues decided to bring in inexperienced Gareth Baber instead. I'd say the blues haven't run a backline set move all season, something I see the ospreys doing alot. I'd say that Dai must be looking in that area now.

Again, congratulations dragons and good luck against Ulster.

 

[dullonien]

Saw this game tonight after being in Cardiff over the weekend on a stag do. Good match and Dragons were well worth their win. I thought Faletau, Tovey, Lydiate and Steffan Jones were great. Faletau was everwhere and has to start against the Barbarians for me. He outplayed Rush, despite Rush having a decent game himself. Tovey controlled the match excellently, and showed some touches of class, especially towards the end with his searing break and kick to the corner. Lydiate was a tackling machine, something were quite used to. Stopped Rush in his tracks on a number of occasions, which is no mean feat. I was impressed with Steffan Jones, he made one or two small errors, but was generally very good and took his try extremely well. Looks like a confident lad, and had no problems stepping up to kick at goal after Tovey appeared to slightly injure himself. Overall, great performance from the entire Dragons squad.

Whilst the Blues were a little better than they have been in their last couple of matches, I'm still very dissapointed with their general performance. I don't understand what their tactis are at the moment! They send lone runners into contact making little ground, and even when they did, they managed to hand the ball over to the Dragons. Parks was again useless, with help from some very sloppy service from Richie Rees. Even Parks' bloody goal kicking deserted him, with the icing on the increadibly sh*t cake being when Brew steamrolled through what he considers an attampted tackle! Are the backline capable of running dummy and supporting lines in attack? Roberts tried his best as always, but the Dragons were just waiting for him, same with Rush. Laulala seems to have turned to sh*t compared with how he was playing last season aswell. Czekaj confirmed my overview of him by not passing the ball once (from what I remember).

In the pack, Warburton played well for the first half, but was obviously struggling slighty fitness wise in the second having just returned from injury. Good showing considering, and that's great to see from a Welsh standpoint. The rest were a bit meh, although as I said Rush tried his hardest to make ground.

Blues have got a hugely tough game next week against the Scarlets to progress to the Semi's. Even if they pull it off, I can't see how they'd win away from home in Ireland to progress any further. Poor season from them, questions will invariably begin to be asked again about Dai Young.