SCOTLAND stand-off Dan Parks was able to keep his feet when all around were losing theirs in wet and slippery conditions as Glasgow grabbed a superbly gritty win to open their season.
His four penalties, three from further more than 45 yards, were the difference between the teams and a considerable achievement in the bog that is otherwise known as Rodney Parade.
On the 43rd successive day of rain in Wales, the pitch looked the
lush, green sward you would expect at the start of the season – however that concealed an incredible amount of water.
The rain before the start was so intense that even the hardy rugby players were forced from the pitch in the middle of their pre-match routine.
The game was therefore predictable mid-winter fare with players sliding around in the mud, with plenty of kicking but low scoring.
It was just 3-3 at half-time, the Dragons having more of the pressure but only able to get the one penalty out of the time spent in the Glasgow 22 as the visiting defence and discipline held firm.
Dan Parks cancelled that out with his second penalty attempt after the first had drifted wide from 45 yards out. He showed he was having no problems with his footing by putting Glasgow ahead just after the break with a penalty kick from just a yard inside the Dragons half.
They could easily have extended that lead as right wing Lome Fa'atau missed two tricky opportunities in a matter of seconds, both created by Parks.
Firstly his clever kick down the middle had the covering defence in trouble and unable to gather the ball, but Fa'atau too skidded onto the ball over the try line and it went over the dead ball line.
From the resulting attacking scrum, Parks saw Fa'atau free on the wide outside and sent a high looped pass out towards touch but the Samoan was unable to gather over his head with the line at his mercy.
Perhaps unsurprisingly Fa'atau was soon replaced with Max Evans moving out to the wing to allow Andrew Henderson on in midfield. Just as it seemed Glasgow might have to pay for squandering chances, they got a break thanks to the eagle eyes of Irish referee George Clancy.
Wing Thom Evans kicked through and seemed to accidentally collide with replacement full back Shaun Connor. Clancy, though, spotted a deliberate tug which was clearly shown on the TV replays. Connor went to the sin-bin for ten minutes and Parks landed the penalty to put Glasgow 9-3 ahead.
Despite the changes in the linout laws, the Dragons twice kicked penalties to the corner instead of going for goal, but Glasgow were able to collapse the first one and their numbers meant they were able to steal the second – both signs of doing their homework.
Parks added his fourth penalty, again from around 50 yards, to put his side more than a score clear. The Dragons kept pushing and Connor was able to get a penalty when Johnny Beattie was sin-binned for lying on the wrong side. Glasgow, however, held firm and got their season off to the perfect start.
Scorers: Dragons: Pens – Arlidge, Connor. Glasgow: Pens – Parks (4)
Newport Gwent Dragons: A Smith; T Selley, R Sidey, M Stcherbina, R Fussell; J Arlidge, W Evans; A Black, T Willis (Capt), R Thomas, A Jones, L Charteris, J Bearman, R Parks, L Evans. Subs: H Gustafson for Black 62, L Harrison for Thomas 75, J Ringer for Evans 65, G Webb for Parks 75, S Connor for Smith 18, G Maule, R Lewis.
Glasgow: B Stortoni; L Fa'atau, M Evans, G Morrison, T Evans; D Parks, M McMillan; J Va'a, D Hall, M Low, T Barker, A Kellock, K Brown, J Barclay, J Beattie. Subs: E Milligan, K Tkachuk, O Palepoi for Barker 61, S Swindall, C Gregor, A Henderson for Fa'atau 55, R Jackson.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland).
Attendance: 4,113
The full article contains 682 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
