Clermont Auvergne trounce Dragons 49-7 to secure home play-off

Dragons 7-49 Clermont Auvergne, Rodney Parade
Scorecard

Patricio Fernandez contributed with 19 points as Clermont Auvergne trounced Dragons 7-49 at Rodney Parade on Friday to secure a home play-off spot in the European Rugby Challenge Cup.

Clermont Auvergne now has the most points in the opening round of this year's edition with 30 points as they seal top place in Pool 1 while this is Dragons' fourth defeat from six games.

Fly-half Fernandez kicked-off the proceedings for the visitors with a converted try in the 10th minute and two minutes later they were boosted by a sin-bin to Dragons' Aaron Wainwright.

The French side dominated the proceedings for the remainder of the first half with further tries from Alexandre Fischer (44'), Paul Jedrasiak (17'), Remmy Grosso (23' and 31') as they went on to score 35 unanswered points before the break.

After the first 18 minutes went without a point in the second half, Peter Betham (58') and Jedrasiak (75') crossed over the line while Fernandez also had a fabulous game as Clermont increased their tally to 49 points.

Jordan Williams provided some consolation for Dragons as he got them off the mark in the closing stage with a touchdown but it was Clermont, who were dominant from the outset to complete a 42 point victory.