Ahead of Sunday’s United Rugby Championship game against Leinster at Rodney Parade, we turn back the clock for a #ThrowbackThursday and look back at our victory over the Irish outfit in 2015….
Dragons 25-22 Leinster Rugby – April 12th, 2015
James Benjamin scored two tries to inspire Dragons to a thrilling 25-22 victory over Leinster at Rodney Parade.
The replacement back-row came on after half-time and was instrumental as the Welsh region recovered from 22-8 down.
Two tries from Ben Te'o and one from Jimmy Gopperth had put Leinster in total charge.
Rhys Thomas had gone over early for Dragons, before Jack Dixon started the second half fightback and Benjamin added a thrilling brace to put a huge dent in Leinster's play-off hopes.
The Welsh region surprised many by beating Leinster 16-14 at the RDS Arena in Dublin earlier that year in February, so they were gunning for a significant double before kick-off.
Dragons took an early advantage when Jason Tovey opened their account with a 30-metre penalty before hooker Thomas was driven over for an unconverted try from an attacking line-out.
Only a fantastic tackle by young centre Tyler Morgan kept Te'o at bay as Leinster took the upper hand, but the New Zealand centre was not to be denied for long as he burst past Dixon from a Eoin Redden pass at a ruck.
Gopperth, who had struck an earlier penalty, then ran away from home prop Phil Price and scrum-half Jonathan Evans to cross and put the Irishmen into the interval 15-8 ahead.
Ten minutes into the second period Te'o struck again as he surged through a gap between Morgan and fly-half Dorian Jones to go under the posts for a converted try.
However, the Dragons hit back when they reached the Leinster goal-line and Dixon drove over under a pile of bodies, with Tovey converting.
Leinster were then a man down when Te'o was sin-binned for a high tackle on Dixon and that allowed the Dragons to build even more pressure.
Wales and British and Irish Lions number eight Taulupe Faletau charged down an attempted clearance by Redden, allowing replacement Benjamin to drive over.
And Benjamin put the Welshmen into the lead and gave them a bonus point when he went over at the left corner to seal a famous result.
Dragons: Jason Tovey; Tom Prydie, Tyler Morgan, Jack Dixon, Hallam Amos; Dorian Jones, Jonathan Evans; Phil Price, T Rhys Thomas (capt), Brok Harris, James Thomas, Cory Hill, Nick Croswell, Nic Cudd, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Rhys Buckley, Luke Garrett, Dan Way, Matthew Screech, James Benjamin, Luc Jones, Pat Leach, Geraint Rhys Jones.
Leinster: Zane Kirchner; Dave Kearney, Ben Te'o, Gordon D'Arcy, Darragh Fanning; Jimmy Gopperth, Eoin Reddan; Jack McGrath, Richard Strauss, Martin Moore, Ben Marshall, Mike McCarthy, Dominic Ryan, Shane Jennings (capt), Jack Conan.
Replacements: Aaron Dundon, Michael Bent, Tadhg Furlong, Ross Molony, Jordi Murphy, Luke McGrath, Noel Reid, Luke Fitzgerald.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR)
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