Discarded Wales duo send emphatic message to Warren Gatland as Cardiff embarrass the Dragons

Rhys Carre’s early brace set the tone in the first of the Welsh Boxing Day derbies as Cardiff thrashed the Dragons 55-21 in the United Rugby Championship.

The Wales prop, who was sent home before the start of the Rugby World Cup, did his chances of a recall for the Six Nations no harm.

Carre touched down twice and impressed with his set-piece work as the capital outfit proved to be far too strong for the visitors.

Fellow prop Keiron Assiratti, who similarly missed out on the World Cup, also shone and scored a brilliant individual try in the second half.

By that point, Cardiff had already opened up a dominant advantage as Ben Thomas, James Botham (twice) and Tomos Williams (twice) joined Carre and Assiratti on the scoresheet.

They eased off in the final half-hour as the Dragons hit back through Harri Keddie and a penalty try, but the hosts deservedly had the final word thanks to Cam Winnett.

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It took Cardiff less than three minutes to open the scoring when Carre finished off a succession of forward drives by crashing over.

However, Dragons were soon level when a break from Aneurin Owen split the home defence with Keddie up in support to score.

The whirlwind start to the game continued with a third try in the first 10 minutes. Ashton Hewitt failed to deal with an up and under which allowed Ray Lee-Lo and Mason Grady to make ground down the right flank before Carre was on hand for his second score of the afternoon.

Cardiff extended that lead when Thomas powered through a weak tackle from Taine Basham before a strong run from Teddy Williams gave Tomos Williams a simple walk-in and the hosts had their bonus point inside only 18 minutes.

Dragons’ woes continued when Botham forced his way over from close range for two tries in quick succession before Wales scrum-half Williams beat two defenders for his second score after Lee-Lo’s elusive run had put the defence on the back foot.

Seven tries in the first half equalled the United Rugby Championship record with Tinus de Beer taking his tally to five conversions for a 45-7 interval lead.

Dragons made three changes at half-time but the tide was not stemmed as Assiratti trundled past a weak tackle from Rhodri Williams to take the home side past 50 points.

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Who doesn't love seeing a prop in full flight!? 😍pic.twitter.com/9ZJZyVRHva

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Keddie responded with his second try before the visitors were awarded a penalty try for the hosts collapsing a line-out drive, with replacement prop Rhys Litterick sin-binned.

Cardiff took off a number of their leading lights but they still had the final say when Grady’s burst sent Winnett over to complete the try-scoring.

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Mackenzie Martin, 7 James Botham, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Rory Thornton, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Lucas de la Rua, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Willis Halaholo, 23 Gabriel Hamer-Webb

Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Cai Evans, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Harri Keddie, 5 George Nott, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Will Reed, 23 Jared Rosser

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales), Ben Connor (Wales)
TMO: Wayne Davies (Wales)

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