Basham double cannot save Dragons from Lions loss

United Rugby Championship

Dragons (12) 19

Tries: Keddie, Basham 2 Cons: Evans 2

Lions: (13) 23

Tries: Horn, Cairns Cons: Steyn, Nohamba Pens: Steyn 2, Nohamba

Dragons again narrowly missed out on claiming a South African scalp as Lions maintained their unbeaten start to the season.

Wales back row Taine Basham crossed twice as Dragons out-scored the visitors three tries to two at Rodney Parade.

But they ran out of steam as the game went on, with Lions completing a third win in a row for the first time since January.

Quan Horn and man of the match Jarod Cairns crossed either side of half-time, while Nico Steyn and Sanele Nohamba combined to kick 13 points.

Will Reed stepped off the bench, only to hit the post with a 69th-minute penalty, but Dragons were still able to claim a losing bonus point.

Dragons, beaten late by Sharks last week, impressed when the game was an arm-wrestle, particularly through their back-row trio of Shane Lewis-Hughes, Harrison Keddie and Basham.

Aneurin Owen also offered a threat in midfield, but they were in trouble when the game broke apart and tired badly in the second half.

Dragons paid tribute with a minute's applause in the 17th minute on Sunday to fan Ray Gleed, who died before their match against Sharks last weekend.

Lions may be the least fashionable of the South African sides, but they led 13-12 at half-time despite a yellow card.

They arrived in Newport unbeaten, after wins over Ulster and Edinburgh, and struck first through Horn in their opening away game of the season.

Dragons recalled Leon Brown, Rodrigo Martinez, Keddie, Joe Westwood and Ewan Rosser, a late replacement for his brother Jared, and all were in the thick of the action.

Keddie intercepted Steyn’s pass and galloped 70 metres upfield, out-sprinting the fly-half, to level the scores.

Westwood was among many to benefit from the handling skills of Owen but was also among those guilty of wasting chances by coughing up possession.

It was from Owen's half-break that Lions hooker Franco Marais was sin-binned for kicking the ball out of Rhodri Williams' hands.

And just seconds later, Dragons capitalised with a driving maul finished by Basham, scoring for the second game in a row.

Basham and Martinez both conceded penalties – harshly in Martinez's case – to give Lions the narrowest of leads at the break which was wiped out within moments of the restart.

Rosser earned a penalty from which Ben Carter and Lewis-Hughes edged close, before Basham showed real strength to get through a crowd of legs to score again.

But again discipline and some desperately tired tackling undermined Dragons, without a win over South African opposition for more than four years.

Replacement fly-half Nohamba kicked three points before flanker Cairns swatted off Westwood and stepped out of Angus O'Brien's tackle to score Lions' crucial second try.

Dragons coach Dai Flanagan recognised the need to freshen up and drafted on five replacements in the space of a few minutes, including prop Cameron Jones for his debut.

But Reed's attempt to close the gap to a point was as close as Dragons came late on as Lions, who have only lost two of 13 meetings with Welsh teams, closed out a scoreless final half-hour.

Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan said: "I'm disappointed with the result but I'm probably more disappointed that the performance just didn't look like us.

"We have tried to create an identity in the opening weeks but we didn't have the same energy or tempo today.

"It was a very slow first half, with 12 scrums that just created a pushing game rather than a running game. We have to reflect on our inaccuracy and wastefulness."

Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen said: "We knew this would be a physical battle and it was very tough at the breakdown so we're pleased to come away with four points.

"We are having to find a way to win ugly and perhaps that was a game that we wouldn't have won last season, but that shows how we are growing."

Dragons: Angus O’Brien; Rio Dyer, Joe Westwood, Aneurin Owen, Ewan Rosser; Lloyd Evans, Rhodri Williams; Rodrigo Martinez, Brodie Coghlan, Leon Brown, Ben Carter (capt), Matthew Screech, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Harri Keddie, Taine Basham.

Replacements: Oli Burrows, Cameron Jones, Chris Coleman, Ryan Woodman, Dan Lydiate, Dane Blacker, Will Reed, Harry Wilson.

Lions: Quan Horn; Rabz Maxwane, Erich Cronje, Rynhardt Jonker, Edwill Van Der Merwe; Nico Steyn, Morne Van Den Berg; Juan Schoeman, Franco Marais, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Reinhard Nothnagel, Darrien Landsberg, JC Pretorius, Jarod Cairns, Francke Horn (capt).

Replacements: PJ Botha, Heiko Pohlmann, Conraad van Vuuren, Ruben Schoeman, Renzo du Plessis, Sanele Nohamba, Marius Louw, Henco van Wyk.

Sin-bin: Marais (23)

Referee: Fillipo Russo (FIR)

Assistant referees: Adam Jones & Rhys Jones (WRU)

TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)