Perpignan douse Dragons' fire

Les Catalans' early blitz leaves Dragons facing uphill task

Perpignan scored three tries in an opening twenty-minute salvo and swept aside the Dragons 32-9 in the Heineken Cup on Saturday.

The result leaves both teams on ten points, seven behind Pool leaders Newcastle, and needing to win both remaining games to have any chance of qualification.

Perpignan, playing in front of a heated crowd, stormed into the game. Nicolas Laharrague, who had a near-flawless game at fly-half, put them into Dragons territory, and from the lineout, the Perpignan pack drove en masse over the line for the opening try.

Laharrague converted, and Perpignan were on their way.

If they hadn't been made clear already, Perpignan's combative intentions became even more apparent, when Gregory Le Corvec flattened Percy Montgomery desperately late. Le Corvec was lucky to stay on the field, and Montgomery was a shadow of his usual self for the rest of the game.

Another precision kick from Laharrague put the French into the corner again some three minutes later, and then Rimas Alvarez Kareilis stole the lineout ball. The Dragons held out for several phases, but eventually scrum-half Nicolas Durand sneaked around the side for the second.

The faultless Laharrague again landed the conversion, and repeated the feat again seven minutes later after good work from Nicolas Mas and Alvarez had sent Scott Robertson into the corner.

Ceri Sweeney had booted a penalty in reply to the first try, but at 21-3 after twenty minutes, a rout threatened.

It didn't quite materialise. The Dragons pushed their defence up to the gainline, and as they became more and more resolute, so Perpignan's discipline wavered.

Sweeney twice punished them with penalties, missing another on the stroke of half-time, and Montgomery scuffed a longer-range effort dreadfully, heightening the suspicion that Le Corvec's earlier challenge had left a lasting impression.

Montgomery was also culpable for costing the Dragons their clearest-cut chance, spilling the ball when all he had to do was catch, draw and pass to send Gareth Wyatt into the corner.

The Dragons were 21-9 down at the break, but they were clawing their way back into the game.

But within 2 minutes of the restart, they were on the back foot again. Sweeney felled Gavin Hume with a nasty high tackle, and Laharrague duly punished the offence, and inflicted the same retribution for the same offence five minutes later.

Yet another catch-and-drive from a lineout ensured that Perpignan regained the bonus point they had lost to the Dragons last week, as the unstoppable Catalan pack drove hooker Jan van den Heerden over the line. Laharrague was unable to convert, but at 32-9 the outcome of the game was beyond doubt.

Tempers started to boil on both sides, no doubt stoked by the daunting atmosphere whipped up by the frenzied spectators, and eventually things came to a head in the 57th minute.

Colin Gaston and Rhys Oakley were both lectured extensively by the referee, but the real bone of contention was the injury to Montgomery, who left the field incensed, clutching what appeared to be a bleeding bite mark.

With the job done, Perpignan made a number of substitutions in the final twenty minutes, which dulled their shine somewhat, and the match continued a little acrimoniously towards its long-since determined conlusion.

The scorers:

For Perpignan:
Tries: Mas, Durand, Robertson, van den Heerden
Con: Laharrague 3
Pens: Laharrague 2

For the Dragons:
Pens: Sweeney 3