The Dragons lost Wales internationals Rio Dyer and Ben Carter to injury, while centre Fetuli Paea limped off after a "dangerous" knee-drop tackle during their defeat to the Ospreys at St Helen's. Head coach Filo Tiatia bemoaned the tackle, which also saw Rhodri Williams, Tinus de Beer and Aneurin Owen all sin-binned.
Tiatia calls for earlier ban on knee-drop tackles
Knee-drop tackles will be banned throughout rugby from November 1 after a recent World Rugby announcement. Tiatia said: "I saw the clip. It was a knee-drop tackle. I know the law comes in in a couple of weeks. But you can clearly see it's dangerous. Rugby league is heavy on it. I think World Rugby need to bring it in earlier. But he's not good."
On Dyer, Tiatia admitted he didn't "know the extent of it". He added: "There's a few (injuries). The injuries, you saw Carts go off. We had three yellow cards through indiscipline. That's something we need to tighten up. The boys have been squeaky clean. Some of the things I saw differently. We've got a few clips for Mr Whitehouse so we can learn from them."
Scarlets boss proud despite Stormers defeat
Scarlets head coach Nigel Davies believes his side have turned a corner after pushing the Stormers all the way in a thrilling BKT United Rugby Championship try fest in Cape Town. Scarlets scored six tries but narrowly missed out on victory in a 52-40 defeat, claiming a try bonus point.
Davies said: "First of all, congratulations to the Stormers for winning what was a fantastic contest. We came here with an intent to score tries and play rugby. It has been our focus all season and we knew we were coming to a very difficult place to play and we had to be on top of our game. What we have been working on mentally, physically and skill-wise is to execute under high pressure and a higher intensity so we can compete longer against the top teams and I firmly believe we have turned the corner there."
He singled out 18-year-old fly-half Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, saying: "This is a fabulous place to play and a lot of my players would have gained a huge amount. Look at our 10, Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, who is just 18 years old, that experience will be invaluable to him."
Bristol hold off Exeter in stormy conditions
Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam said he was "really proud" of his team after they weathered awful conditions and a second-half fightback from Exeter Chiefs to triumph 20-7 at Ashton Gate. Gabriel Ibitoye crossed after 27 minutes, with James Williams adding the extras and a penalty to establish a 10-0 lead. Greg Fisilau's try, converted by Henry Slade, brought Exeter back into contention, but a second Williams penalty and a late Luka Ivanishvili try sealed the win.
Lam said: "Conditions like that really challenge your technique and mindset. And you can't go into these games without the right mindset because you have to front up physically, but that physicality has to be technically accurate, otherwise you are going to give territory and possession away and miss tackles. We allowed them back into the game by dropping a few balls, but our message was 'just be accurate'."
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter questioned his side's decision not to go for the posts near the end, instead turning down two kickable penalties inside the 22. He said: "Towards the end we had worked our way back into it and we had an opportunity to get something. And our poorest maul of the game was probably at the end there, where we probably needed a killer maul. I think the difference between the two teams was that we just made more errors than Bristol over the course of the game, and tactically Bristol were potentially a little smarter."
Baxter also felt aggrieved over Bristol's first try, which came from a penalty awarded against Ethan Roots, saying: "I think we were unfortunate with the first try because I don't think Ethan has done anything. He is leaving the maul after being told to by the referee. Bristol make an error at the back, he picks the ball up and all of a sudden we are penalised."
