Dragons agonisingly miss out on win over Ospreys in pulsating Welsh derby draw

The Dragons and Ospreys played out a pulsating 19-19 draw at Rodney Parade on Saturday night, with home fly-half Tinus de Beer agonisingly missing two chances to seal the win late on.

Tries from Harri Deaves and Phil Cokanasiga put the visitors in a commanding position in the first half, before the hosts eventually found a foothold in the contest just before half-time through Rhodri Williams.

The second period was closely contested, with the Dragons taking the game to their west Wales opponents and outscoring them two tries to one but once again they fell short in a frantic finish.

The game took place just over 24 hours after the WRU announced it intends to cut one of the Welsh regions moving forward.

Both clubs released statements on Friday evening, with the landscape looking a bit more healthy in the east than it does in the west.

The atmosphere in Welsh rugby right now is emotionally charged and you could have forgiven players involved if they were distracted by matters off the field. In the build-up to the match, supporters from both clubs marched to the ground in an act of protest against the union's plans.

The Ospreys were forced into two late changes, with Ryan Smith and Keiran Williams out and Rhys Davies and May Nagy replacing them.

It was the visitors who made the brighter start, pinning the hosts in as the wind swirled. The Dragons lost Joe Westwood early on to a head injury, with David Richards coming in.

And they would shortly be behind on the scoreboard too, with Deaves scoring a brilliant opener on 15 minutes. Picking the ball up from an untidy knockdown, the in-form star showed aggression to run in from 30 metres to break the deadlock. Dan Edwards missed the conversion.

Just five minutes later Mark Jones'