Cardiff continue derby dominance over Dragons to move top of URC

Cardiff kept up their derby dominance over the Dragons and moved top of the United Rugby Championship with a 24-17 win at Rodney Parade.

The Blue and Blacks had won the previous 20 league matches against the Dragons, with the Men of Gwent's last league victory coming in December 2014. Beyond a late comeback, the run never looked like ending.

In front of nearly 7,500 fans, tries from Alex Mann, Taulupe Faletau, Dan Thomas and Danny Southworth proved enough for Cardiff to edge out the Dragons, who had Brodie Coghlan and Ben Carter to thank for their scores.

If Cardiff's win over Connacht last week was largely played between the 22s, with clear-cut attacking opportunities few and far between, then the opening quarter of this Welsh derby was almost the opposite.

Little of the action took place around halfway, with both teams instead able to create and take chances with ease. With a modicum of niggle, the early minutes threatened a pulsating derby.

It never arrived beyond the early spate of tries in the first-half.

The first came the way of Cardiff after just 80 seconds, when a driving maul was finished off by Wales back-row Mann on his return to the team.

It didn't take long for the Dragons to hit back with a rolling maul of their own. Hooker Coghlan burrowed his way over, with Tinus de Beer's conversion moving them ahead.

Despite the conditions, it was a night for the forwards - with Cardiff's pack edging them back ahead.

First, Wales No. 8 Faletau marked his return from injury with a try after 14 minutes, forcing his way over from close-range.

Then, Cardiff ended the first quarter with another score from their pack - with flanker Thomas crashing over.

That would be that for first-half tries, with the match getting