Spirited Dragons unable to live with clinical Clermont

Apr 23 2007 Richard Clifford, South Wales Echo

It would have been easy for the Dragons to offer up excuses for their European Challenge Cup semi-final defeat in Clermont.

The warm weather, the bounce of the ball and getting the rough end of close refereeing calls could have all been used.

Thankfully they didn't.

'We were beaten by the better side and deserved to lose,' admitted an honest Kevin Morgan afterwards.

The Dragons captain was spot on as the gallant Gwent region surveyed the disappointment of another failure in Europe.

It's becoming an all too familiar story for Welsh teams in European competitions.

With no Welsh team yet to reach a final since the regional revolution, only Pontypridd and Caerphilly have managed to get past the last four hurdle in recent years.

It's a depressing sequence which must be halted soon.

The Dragons battled hard but never did Clermont look in serious danger of losing this semi-final in a match played out under the scorching sun.

Scoring 29 points and crossing for five tries in France is no mean feat.

But it shouldn't cloud the fact that the Dragons were overrun and overpowered from almost the first whistle to the last.

Once Aled Brew had opened the try-scoring with a strong burst and finish against the run of play, Clermont decided to wake up and put the game to bed in a nine-minute first-half purple patch.

After Morgan missed touch, Clermont counter-attacked and three passes later and following two missed tackles captain Aurelien Rougerie was underneath the posts.

Prop Thomas Domingo then burrowed over, and with Jamie Ringer in the sin-bin, No.8 Gonzalo Longo Miguel found space to slip through as the hosts racked up 21 unanswered points in quick time.

The game was all but over bar the shouting and the Dragons were starring down the barrel of a heavy European defeat midway through the first-half.

But to their credit they never threw in the towel and when prop Adam Black and Brew scored either side of the break, the visitors even sniffed a stunning comeback.

That quickly ended though when Clermont sent on their big-hitting international reinforcements from the bench and stepped on the gas to seal matters.

Tony Marsh finished off a frightening four-man overlap to score and hooker Brice Miguel carved his giant frame over the whitewash.

Ian Gough restored some respectability before Pierre Mignoni intercepted to increase the home side's lead.

Replacement Phil Dollman had the last say when he collected his chip ahead to score in the dying minutes but it was scant consolation.