The Dragons squad had been reinforced during the close season with the acquisition of the New Zealanders in Tom Willis, Grant Web and John Arlidge and two Aussies in centre pairing of Rory Sidey and the experienced Marc Stcherbina and were clearly going to prove a stern test and were looking to take the "prize" scalp of the "London" Saracens!

Sarries were wearing the red change strip that was on show at the Middlesex 7s and will no doubt be on sale once they have sold enough of the new home strip!

For the first twenty five or so minutes of the game the Dragons dominated with Sarries rarely getting out of their own half. In fact it seemed at times that the Men in Black were under orders to defend as they turned over ball, gave away penalties and miss kicks to touch with such regularity! If that was the case Sarries were following the script precisely, repulsing wave after wave of Dragons attacks, and it wasn't until the 16^th minute that Arlidge kicked a penalty, with another one following in 26^th minute for a 6-0 lead.

This seemed to be the signal for Sarries to come alive and for the period up to half time they dominated. Brent Russell left the field clutching his shoulder and was replaced by Noah Cato who seemed to add fizz to the Sarries backline. Glen Jackson landed a penalty and shortly after, following a Glen kick into the Dragons 22, Matt Cairns pounced on loose ball from the lineout and following good movement by the props Lloydy and Census, Chris Jack, although stopped slightly short of the line, reached out to touch down with Glen converting from wide on the left. This was just rewards for Chris Jack who had been immense all half causing Dragons trouble in the lineouts, stealing two, and showing good speed and hands in the loose.

From the restart, Saracens looked determined to build on their score, and, three minutes later, Jack and Jackson linked in mid field with Jackson collecting the return pass from Jack on the run-around and bursting into space to release Kameli Ratuvou who raced down the sideline to score. There seemed genuine surprise in the crowd at Kameli's speed and I think the Dragon's were shocked too. Glen converted, and in a six or seven minute period, Sarries had scored 17 unanswered points to race into a 6 - 17 lead.

The remaining minutes of the first half continued in the same vein as Sarries pressed forward and the half ended with Michael Owen being held up over the line with there being no time for the 5 metre scrum. Sarries had dominated the last 15 minutes of the half, showing their strength and class, and seemed to have the match under control. As Sarries came out for the second half, Richard Haughton was missing, having been replaced by a mystery man with no number on his back and whom I did not recognize. He was obviously a mystery to the announcer who failed to identify him either! From the Saracens website I know understand he is Mark Harris who is on trial from the Lions in South Africa. He was obviously a very recent recruit as he was caught out of place several times through the half. Del Boy had been treated several times in the second part of the first half and I hope that neither his nor Brussel's injuries are serious.

Sarries dominance of the last part of the first half did not continue and it was back to the defensive drill, but after five minutes, their line was finally breached when, from a sweeping move, the Dragons full back Ashley Smith scored a converted try. This signalled the start of the usual changes in friendly matches with Sarries replacing Jack and Chesney with Hugh Vyvyan and Don Barrell.  Jackson and Arlidge swapped penalties as each side pushed, but on 64 minutes Steve Borthwick was yellow carded having been ruled to handle on the ground. This, having happened directly in front of us, was a very harsh decision as Borths had latched onto a loose ball, and was another poor decision by the ref Tim Hayes who, in my opinion, had a poor match for both sides.

Sarries now reduced to 14 men were forced to defend vigorously but the Dragons only score during this period was a penalty by the replacement fly half Jason Tovey. This penalty had arisen after Census, laying on the wrong side, was given a particularly severe shoeing by one of the Dragons and, on getting to his feet, Census gave him a bit of a push to remind him who he was dealing with, and he went flying! It made it a one point game at 19 - 20 - silly of Census but understandable!

Just as Borthwick was returning to the field Jackson kicked a further penalty to extend the lead to 4 points and the Men in Black were able to hold on for a 19 - 23 win.

It was an enjoyable game and Sarries had looked sharp at times and their defence was good throughout the match. Glen kicked particularly well. Man of the match for me was Chris Jack who was strong in attack, immense in the lineout and excellent in attack. We probably should have dispatched the Dragons much easier but no match at Rodney Parade was going to be straight forward, especially with their Southern Hemisphere reinforcements. Tom Willis, their All Black hooker and new captain, was a thorn in Sarries side all match and I wouldn't mind seeing him in the black of Sarries rather than Newport!  [Well, if he gets seduced by a Valley's girl, and marries her, it might make sense, isn't it, Mun! (Ed)]

The important thing is that it was a win, the third in a row following Western Force and Toulon and hopefully Eddie can build on that when the real fun starts against Quins at 5.30pm on September 6^th!

Newport Gwent Dragons: A Smith, G Maule, M Stcherbina, R Sidey, R Fussell, J Arlidge (J Tovey 62), W Evans (R Lewis 62), A Black (L Harrison 62), T Willis (captain), R Thomas, A Jones (A Brown 72), L Charteris, J Bearman ( ýJ Ringer 57), L Evans (G Webb 57), J Harris (R Parks 31).

Scorers -- try: A Smith; conversion: J Arlidge; penalties: Arlidge (3), J Tovey.

Saracens: R Haughton (M Harris 40), B Russell (N Cato 25), K Ratuvou, A Powell, R Penney, G Jackson, N de Kock, N Lloyd, M Cairns, C Johnston, S Borthwick, K Chesney (H Vyvyan 48), C Jack (D Barrell 46), M Owen, A Saull.

Scorers -- tries: C Jack, K Ratuvou; conversions: G Jackson (2) ; penalties: Jackson (3).

Referee: Tim Hayes (WRU).

Attendance: 3,521.

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