Boss Dean Ryan admitted a Bordeaux blitz either side of half-time had ultimately condemned this side to Heineken Champions Cup defeat.
Heavy underdogs Dragons produced a spirited and battling first half show at Stade Chaban-Delmas against the Top14 giants.
But three quick-fre tries in four minutes – either side of the break – saw Bordeaux pull clear and eventually run out 47-8 winners.
“It was probably the highest level that some of these guys have played at and I thought for 30 minutes it was a really great gusty effort,” he said.
“There were some detail things, but given the last two weeks we’ve had, and the amount of changes we had, that is to be expected.
“I suppose the learning is our behaviour post half-time when we were just too loose and they are too good. It’s incredibly frustrating because we spoke about staying on task.
“We had two players tonight (Aneurin Owen & Evan Lloyd) that had not played senior professional rugby before.
“To do that against them is quite a significant ask, especially when one of them is the ten from less than 30 minutes out. It’s a big shift for us.
“We’ve talked all along about enjoying this experience, about learning from it, and that 15-minute spell is a stark lesson for us about where we need to be better if we want to stay in this level of games.”
Ryan admitted he was proud of the way his much-changed side had battled against the odds – even if the Heineken Champions Cup campaign has been an unusual one so far.
“We never planned for the last two weeks - we planned this experience slightly different,” he admitted.
“Circumstances have forced it all on us so we have experienced it in a different way.
“We spoke after the game about how we have got youngsters, the likes of Rio (Dyer) and Ben (Carter) involved.
“To be playing against some of the players they faced today is a big challenge for them.
“We wanted to play, wanted to get it on. We would definitely have liked to have got that 20 minutes in the middle under control a bit better, that would have been a better reflection of the game.”
We’ve talked all along about enjoying this experience, learning from it, and that 15-minute spell is a stark lesson for us about where we need to be better...
