Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia questioned a contentious second-half call as his side were denied a victory away at Benetton. The Men of Gwent had the chance to win the game late on, but Tinus de Beer's conversion hit the post - leaving them to settle for a 19-19 draw. However, it could perhaps have been a victory had Che Hope's score not been chalked off late in the second-half.
Disallowed try questioned
The try was disallowed after Huw Anderson was adjudged to have knocked on before the try-scoring pass. The full-back spilled the ball forward, but flicked it back to Hope before it hit the deck - with the TMO saying Anderson wasn't in control of possession before making the pass.
“We gave a lot of opportunities to Benetton at the start of the game,” said Tiatia. “We gave a lot of possession and territory, and they scored a couple of tries from mauling and ill-discipline. Discipline is critical and staying in the game.
“The mentality for the boys to say in the fight was good. We fought hard, we defended well and we took our chances. We have just got to be a little but more clinical.
“I’m not sure on the knock on (for the disallowed try), I didn’t see it that way, so the game could have gone either way.
“Sometimes to win games it is left on kicking opportunities, but it has hit the post.
“It could have been, but instead we take the draw and move on.”
Captain shares frustration
Dragons captain Thomas Young shared the frustration, saying: "A lot of character shown, but there's a lot of frustration there as well. First-half we couldn't keep hold of the ball and discipline was marching them up the field.
"Second-half, we were a lot better. There's still a lot of frustration there."
Cabango nearing return
Cardiff wing Theo Cabango is nearing a return to rugby after over two years on the sidelines. The 24-year-old has not played since June 2024, when he was forced off with a hamstring injury against the Ospreys on Judgement Day. Having been on the brink of a possible Wales call-up that summer, Cabango has now endured two years of injury setbacks.
Back in January, Cardiff coach Corniel van Zyl said that there had been issues with Cabango's recovery - describing it as a "tough period" for the player. While Cabango won't be involved against the Scarlets on Saturday night, he is edging closer to a playing return. Van Zyl revealed that he had been in line to return in pre-season - but was left out as a precaution.
"He was training a lot," said van Zyl this week. "He had a bit of a setback.
"To be fair, he was actually selected to play against Exeter, but he had a little bit of stiffness. So it's just being very conservative with him.
"He's been out for a very long time. It's important just to manage him well."
The Cardiff coach added that the stiffness that kept him out of the Exeter match was on the opposite leg to the one he originally injured.
Northampton storm to opening win
Tommy Freeman and James Pater scored hat-tricks as Northampton, the reigning Prem champions, took advantage of a favourable opening fixture to record a convincing 59-26 victory over last season’s bottom club.
Since the end of last season, Red Bulls have recruited extensively and they did show signs of improvement but it was a tough ask against a side intent on making a statement of their intention to fiercely defend their title.
Tries from George Hendy, Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme took Saints’ tally to nine with Fin Smith adding five conversions and Anthony Belleau two. Christian Wade scored two tries for the visitors to take his Premiership tally to 95 – just six behind the record holder Chris Ashton. Cam Jordan and Werner Kok were the other try-scorers with two conversions coming from Zack Henry and one from Brett Connon.
It took Saints just four minutes to take the lead with a stunning move. Inside their own 22, they took a short penalty for Hendy to make significant ground down the left flank and when the ball was recycled, slick hands created the try for Pater.
The visitors’ response was impressive with Kok brushing aside attempted tackles from Pater and Smith to set up an attacking platform from where a long pass from James Elliott provided Wade with a walk-in. Red Bulls suffered a blow when their full-back, Harrison Obatoyinbo, was yellow-carded for an attempted trip on Hendy and Northampton immediately made then pay when Pater raced over for his second.
Obatoyinbo’s absence proved costly as Saints scored two more tries in his absence, with wings Hendy and Freeman both getting on the scoresheet as the hosts collected their bonus point after only 24 minutes. Obatoyinbo returned but his side’s woes continued when Connon departed with a head injury and failed an HIA, but they showed spirit to keep in contention and were rewarded with a second try from Wade.
However, on the stroke of half-time, a break from Fraser Dingwall sent Coles in under the posts with Smith’s conversion giving Northampton a 31-14 interval lead.
Three minutes after the restart, visiting prop Pouri Rakete-Stones was sin-binned for a high tackle and again it proved costly as Freeman out-flanked the cover for his second. That proved to be the only score in Rakete-Stones’ absence before Saints replaced five players in one swoop, with England scrum-half Alex Mitchell being the most notable introduction.
It did not immediately pay dividends as Newcastle reduced the arrears with a close-range try from Jordan, but Freeman completed his hat-trick to put the game beyond reach. With seven minutes remaining, Sleightholme was introduced and with his first touch, he seized on a stray pass to race away and take his side’s total past 50 before Pater completed his hat-trick.
With the last play of the match, Kok forced his way over to secure a four-try bonus point for the battling Bulls.
Bath open with victory at Harlequins
Santi Carreras produced a wonder try as Bath exploited the absence of Harlequins’ England contingent to launch their Gallagher Prem title challenge with a 33-17 victory at The Stoop.
Carreras stopped a certain try by kicking a final pass destined for Cadan Murley while it was in mid-air, darting forwards to catch the ball and then winning the foot race that began just outside his own 22. It was a unique score from the Argentina full-back that mixed skill and athleticism and crucially it came in the 32nd minute as Harlequins looked to capitalise on the threats created by their high-tempo attack.
While Bath produced fewer thrills, they entered the interval 28-10 ahead with their line-out maul an important weapon and they also finished the stronger of the sides once Quins had run out of steam.
Marcus Smith, Alex Dombrandt, Fin Baxter and George Furbank were missing through injury, leaving Murley and Chandler Cunningham-South as the last men standing from their England contingent, but Quins shrugged off the losses. From the start they looked to play at breakneck speed and while it was electric at times, Bath had the confidence to soak up the waves of attack and take their chances when they came.
Dan du Preez finished a maul try on his Bath debut as his team expertly squeezed territory but Will Porter hit back for the hosts by darting clear from a line-out and crossing, evading tackles as he went. The exchange of tries continued when Joe Cokanasiga exploited a defence that had fragmented after Carreras had escaped down the left before Cunningham-South arrived in support to round off a dynamic Harlequins break.
The score was a reprieve for Cunningham-South, who had started like a freight train only to drop two passes in strong positions. Quins were fighting for everything and attacking with precision, but in the 33rd minute they had to absorb the blow of seeing Carreras race free for his try of the season contender just as they were about to score themselves.
Having been under pressure for lengthy spells of the first-half, canny Bath then struck again with Dan Frost on the end of a line-out maul just moments after Sam Underhill knocked on with the line begging. The third quarter was all Harlequins as Pedro Delgado blasted over from close range following an infield charge by Murley and the try was the prelude to a sustained assault on the Bath 22.
Quins replacement hooker Sam Riley was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle and it was Bath who came on strong in the final quarter with Ewan Richards finishing another maul try to seal the result.
