Boss Dean Ryan insisted Dragons had to take full responsibility for ‘moments of madness’ as they fell to a 23-18 defeat to Zebre Parma in Italy.
The Men of Gwent looked on course for United Rugby Championship victory at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi after second half tries from Lewis Jones and Jared Rosser.
But two yellow cards in quick succession gave Zebre a way back into the fixture and the Italians took full advantage to seal a first win of the season.
“It’s another game that we get into a position where we have got control but then we have moments of madness,” said the Director of Dragons Rugby.
“We go from a situation where we are in the lead to suddenly being down to 13 men and under the pump.
“Then ten minutes of the game drifts away until we can get back organisationally.
“It continues to reinforce the depth that we’ve got, with six internationals away, isn’t appropriate for us to be competitive.
“It’s reinforcing the need for us to recruit into next year and at the same time try and develop others.
“I thought some of the youngsters that came on today certainly looked like they have got more to offer as we go forward.
“It’s that combination of youngsters and recruitment that will move us away from these types of games.
“We have got to take responsibility for what happened,” he added. “The players have got to take responsibility for being a situation where we are in control to suddenly having to spend ten minutes with 13.
“When you are left with four or five minutes to chase a game it is limited to what we can do.
“This confirms where we are heading next year in terms of recruitment, and we will very quickly have to start threading some of these youngsters in so they can grow from these experiences.
“Some of the players who have been around for a bit longer are not growing from the experiences and we end up in the same situation constantly.”
Dragons are next in action on Sunday, May 8 when they travel to Swansea to face Ospreys before welcoming Cardiff Rugby to Rodney Parade on Friday, May 13.
“We’ve got some derby games to come now, and they are always special games,” said Ryan.
“We have got to hope that some of the people who didn’t travel with us to Italy are back on deck.
“We haven’t been able to play with that first-choice group very often and whether we as a squad are equipped to deal with this run that we are on we are going to find out in the next few weeks.”
The players have got to take responsibility for being a situation where we are in control to suddenly having to spend ten minutes with 13...
