Dean Ryan praised the pace and attacking intent his Dragons showed against a strong Lyon outfit as they were beaten 41-28 at Rodney Parade on Friday night.
French Top14 giants Lyon secured a second win in the European Challenge Cup and showed plenty of power in an entertaining encounter in Newport.
But Dragons were not overawed by the challenge and a stirring second half fightback had the visitors unsettled before they sealed the win.
Director of Dragons Rugby Ryan pinpointed the fast-paced game his team adopted as a positive as attention now turns back to the United Rugby Championship and festive derbies in the coming weeks.
“I thought some of our attacking game was outstanding,” said Ryan. “In the second half we played fast against a good side, and they struggled.
“We are going to make some mistakes when we play that fast, but that is the way we have to play. I was pleased with that element.
“Some of our youngsters were outstanding, and some of our attack was threatening against what is a very good Lyon side.
“You can’t move a frantic game into an organised one, we have to live with that, and we will make some mistakes.
“But if we play organised, against a team like that, we won’t win. We have got to make that decision and I am happy to stand here and defend them.
“We‘re clearly not at the same power levels as some of the sides we are being asked to play, so we are trying to find a way that we can express ourselves and be competitive in games. I thought for 20 minutes in that second half, that was us.
“They are top four side in the Top 14 and it’s no surprise that they have a strong front five and were as big as they were. We had to find a different way to play.
“Our confidence is good, and we are stable,” added Ryan. “You don’t play like that unless you have confidence, and I will support them through all the challenges that we face.
“I thought they were great today, the attacking threat we put in. Are we under powered in areas? Yes, I think we all know the reasons why and maybe people should ask questions around why.
“I will keep the team stable. Ben Carter, Rio Dyer, Taine Basham, seeing Jumbo (James Benjamin) come on for this third game, to play the way we are, I am pretty happy.”
Dragons next face Ospreys on Boxing Day and Ryan will assess the injury situation before looking to get his team firing over the festive period.
He said: “Firstly, we have got to look at body count. We lost Ollie Griffiths in the warm-up and we will look at who we have got available.
“I want us to be what we are trying to be and keep moving forward.
“I thought Aaron Wainwright was back to his best today and Taine (Basham) is starting to come through.
“If we can do that, we can be competitive in the derby games.
“We are seven or eight front line players out, so we’ve a lot of youngsters playing,” he added.
“When that happens, we will make some mistakes and we don’t have some of the power when those front line are not around, so we are evolving a game that we think can try and be competitive.
“When we play, we are more used to playing fast, but it comes with risk and comes with errors. That is the reality, and we are comfortable with that.”
Some of our youngsters were outstanding, and some of our attack was threatening against what is a very good Lyon side...
