By Jeff D'Andrea

Dragons shutout by All Blacks

May 21, 2013 | 9:55 PM

The Saskatchewan Rivers Dragons weren’t without their mistakes on Tuesday, and the Saskatoon All Blacks took advantage of the errors in a 22-0 All Blacks win Tuesday at Prime Minister’s Park.

All four of the All Blacks tries came directly after Dragons turnovers, three off of knock-ons (fumbles) and one off a penalty.

“We had a couple of bounces go against us early on and it just sort of mushroomed from there,” said Dragons coach Paul Roy. “Sometime in the second half, one of the coaches and I were walking on the sideline and we got a bounce our way—it was very noticeable.

“Not taking anything away from (The All Blacks), they played extremely well, they tackled, they made plays when they had opportunities and ran really hard with the ball.”

The Dragons couldn’t get any rhythm offensively. Their passes were off and weren’t using a balanced attack in moving the ball inside, then outside.

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It’s been much like their season so far. The Dragons had to postpone the season because of the unusually long winter, and had to cancel games like last week’s match against the Wallabies— who folded and amalgamated with the Harlequins.

“It’s sort of a metaphor on the season, we’ve a very staccato, stop and go, ebb and flow start to the season,” said Roy. ”Little drops, passes that were six or eight inches off and make have you stop or reach behind yourself, we just never got our fluidity going, we were just stop and start.”

Although the Dragons didn’t get the result they wanted, even at their home field for the first time this season, Roy has been patient and has been keeping an upbeat approach with his youthful squad.

“We got to realize, this is a very young team. We had guys in Grade 9 out there tonight playing against 11’s and 12’s,” said Roy. “They’re not physically mismatched right now, they’re very good athletes. You need games under your belt to go forward in this game and we’re learning how to (play).

“Everybody that came played tonight, we’re trying to get everybody in. If we win, we win. If we don’t, we don’t—that’s just how this season is going to pan out.”

The Dragons have two games next week both at Prime Minister’s Park, Tuesday against the Harlequins and Thursday against the Springboks.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea