United Rugby Championship

[UKHamlet]

Cardiff winning a fairly evenly contested match against Edinburgh is a small improvement on last season. We've beaten the poorest teams from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and South Africa, and arguably should have got more from the Munster game. The thing that worries ne though, is they aren't improving. If anything, the cutting edge, and free flowing style of play seems to be disappearing from their game. That leads me to assume they'll fall away when the going gets hot later in the season. Zebra next I belief. We'll need to give them a good rogering and come away with max points to give us a chance of finishing in the ranks of the glorious.

At the other end of the table, things will get easier for the Ospreys and the Scarlets.

[Sandydragon]

Meanwhile the lack of confidence at the dragons continues. You would have expected one of the two last kicks to have gone through.

But great resilience to fight back.

[Son of Mathonwy]

My God how did the Ospreys not win that . . . and in fact get lucky that de Beer missed 2 kicks which would have nicked the result at the end. Sutton not passing ffs.

[Sandydragon]

I think we must be setting the record for scrum penalties at the moment. If we can fix that, we could be in a whole different situation.

[paddy no 11]

The dragons will be lodging a formal complaint against last night's ref you'd imagine. Made 3 huge decisions against dragons

[paddy no 11]

The dragons will be lodging a formal complaint against last night's ref you'd imagine. Made 3 huge decisions against dragons, the shoulder to the head being the most obvious

[Sandydragon]

The dragons will be lodging a formal complaint against last night's ref you'd imagine. Made 3 huge decisions against dragons

That was an appalling decision. I’m not expecting any appeal to work, but that could easily have been a red and was at least a penalty.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Crazy first win of the season, Scarlets nilling Glasgow?? How did that happen? Well played. Costelow kicked well, Eddie James is another centre option not to be forgotten about for Wales. Strange to watch the team in red not getting destroyed in the collisions.

Well played Dragons being competitive with Leinster (I didn't see it). Cardiff did what they needed to do and beat Zebre.

Ospreys, so frustrating to lose such a close match. Two conversions hit the post. Hope Nagy can continue like this and be a big full back option for Wales.

[newgalesurf]

Cardiff v Scarlets.

Messy game. Does no one practice catching box kicks anymore. Shocking from every player. Seems to be an epidemic in Wales

Scarlets line speed was good. Cardiff so many chances in first half couldn’t score against 13 due to some desperate defending (still 20 mins to watch yet)

[paddy no 11]

Who coaches the dragons!!!!!

[newgalesurf]

Filo Tiatia. Not recording for me til early tomorrow morning

[Sandydragon]

Yes, yes oh fucking YES!!!!!

That was beautiful to behold. And long overdue. Did the win last week give the necessary confidence? God alone knows but fair does that was a huge win for the Dragons and every long suffering Dragons fan.

[UKHamlet]

Yes, yes oh fucking YES!!!!!

That was beautiful to behold. And long overdue. Did the win last week give the necessary confidence? God alone knows but fair does that was a huge win for the Dragons and every long suffering Dragons fan.

I was SO pumped by the Dragons' result, it almost made up for Cardiff losing to the Scarlets completely against the run of play. It wasn't just a win, either; it was a feckin' hiding. Mind you, the Dragons have been promising that for a while, they just needed to get confidence and click.

[Sandydragon]

Yes, yes oh fucking YES!!!!!

That was beautiful to behold. And long overdue. Did the win last week give the necessary confidence? God alone knows but fair does that was a huge win for the Dragons and every long suffering Dragons fan.

I was SO pumped by the Dragons' result, it almost made up for Cardiff losing to the Scarlets completely against the run of play. It wasn't just a win, either; it was a feckin' hiding. Mind you, the Dragons have been promising that for a while, they just needed to get confidence and click.

My only gripe is the three late tries Connaught were able to score, but 48 unanswered points on the bounce is an amazing outcome.

We’ve been on the wrong end of more than a few of them so hopefully this will be a massive shot in the arm.

[newgalesurf]

That was the best win I can remember. Superb

[Son of Mathonwy]

Excellent game from the Dragons. Hope they can build on that.

Enjoyable Cardiff v Scarlets game. Sheedy maintains his kicking form (but loses).

Ospreys disappoint. After Lake's dismal line out throws I feel indifferent about seeing him go. Parry's much better value.

[UKHamlet]

Yes, yes oh fucking YES!!!!!

That was beautiful to behold. And long overdue. Did the win last week give the necessary confidence? God alone knows but fair does that was a huge win for the Dragons and every long suffering Dragons fan.

I was SO pumped by the Dragons' result, it almost made up for Cardiff losing to the Scarlets completely against the run of play. It wasn't just a win, either; it was a feckin' hiding. Mind you, the Dragons have been promising that for a while, they just needed to get confidence and click.

My only gripe is the three late tries Connaught were able to score, but 48 unanswered points on the bounce is an amazing outcome.

We’ve been on the wrong end of more than a few of them so hopefully this will be a massive shot in the arm.

I'm viewing the Boxing Day match with some trepidation now. I wouldn't begrudge the Dragons a win, though. We've had a good run against you.

[Sandydragon]

I think it will be a good game. Cardiff must be favourites, especially at home. But it’s good to have some good news to build on.

[Sandydragon]

12-12 at half time. An entertaining first half with Dragons looking sharp with the ball in hand, but leaking too many penalties.

I sense that Cardiff will have enough up front, especially when the benches come into play but it’s been a tidy game thus far, even if (or perhaps because of) there’s been a lack of composure by both sides at times.

[UKHamlet]

Phew. I thought Cardiff had thrown that away for a few minutes. The home team was SO dominant in the second half while not making the Dragons pay. Mason Grady had a great game. Dyer was lively.

[Sandydragon]

Phew. I thought Cardiff had thrown that away for a few minutes. The home team was SO dominant in the second half while not making the Dragons pay. Mason Grady had a great game. Dyer was lively.

It was an exciting finish. Better team won but it deserved to be a close game. Hopefully Hunt is ok but that looked painful. Grady was a pain going forward. Had a few mistakes in defence but if he keeps that up then he must be in the welsh squad and hopefully he gets to stay in one position.

[UKHamlet]

After watching the Scarlets lose to the Ospreys, I thought Joe Hawkins was the best 10 on the park. Edwards seemed off the pace. As you know, I'm a big fan of Dan, but it was interesting to see Hawkins distributing and kicking from the hand with confidence and aplomb. Plus, he has a considerable size advantage.

[Sandydragon]

I like Hawkins at IC, but if our midfield keeps defending like e revolving door, we may need to add some bulk there. Hawkins and Edward’s can shoot it out for fly half.

[UKHamlet]

Phew. I thought Cardiff had thrown that away for a few minutes. The home team was SO dominant in the second half while not making the Dragons pay. Mason Grady had a great game. Dyer was lively.

It was an exciting finish. Better team won but it deserved to be a close game. Hopefully Hunt is ok but that looked painful. Grady was a pain going forward. Had a few mistakes in defence but if he keeps that up then he must be in the welsh squad and hopefully he gets to stay in one position.

In the first twenty, Newport looked a class apart. If they can sustain that level of ferocity, they can become a force with which to be reckoned. I like what Filo is doing. Cardiff, on the other hand, is showing signs of losing the attacking flair Jockey brought. We seem to be devolving into a one-up carry team.

[UKHamlet]

Phew. I thought Cardiff had thrown that away for a few minutes. The home team was SO dominant in the second half while not making the Dragons pay. Mason Grady had a great game. Dyer was lively.

It was an exciting finish. Better team won but it deserved to be a close game. Hopefully Hunt is ok but that looked painful. Grady was a pain going forward. Had a few mistakes in defence but if he keeps that up then he must be in the welsh squad and hopefully he gets to stay in one position.

In the first twenty, Newport looked a class apart. If they can sustain that level of ferocity, they can become a force with which to be reckoned. I like what Filo is doing. Cardiff, on the other hand, is showing signs of losing the attacking flair Jockey brought. We seem to be devolving into a one-up carry team.