Head Coach Dai Flanagan admitted his Dragons did not deserve to win and a lack of control cost them after they slipped to a dramatic loss to Section Paloise in the EPCR Challenge Cup.
The Men of Gwent were beaten 27-21 on home soil in a European match with a huge late twist.
Dragons thought they had snatched victory with seconds remaining at Rodney Parade when Max Clark went over and was initially awarded the score.
But the intervention of the TMO saw the try chalked off over the grounding before Pau held out to take the win and leave Dragons with a solitary point from the fixture.
“We weren’t good enough and didn’t deserve to win. The correct outcome usually happens in rugby and that was the case,” said Flanagan.
“The referee had to make the right decision because it was the last play of the game that would decide the outcome.
“He decided that there was no clear grounding and we can live with that, it was just hard to have such a high and then have to go back and try to win it again when we had a chance but knocked it on. That was a theme of the night.”
Home hooker Bradley Roberts scored two tries, but Dragons let a first half lead slip away before failing to secure a comeback win late on.
“We had no control in that game. It didn’t look like us and they won all of the 50/50s all game, which was disappointing given that we were at Rodney Parade and that shouldn’t happen,” said Flanagan.
“Pau are a tough team, they are physical and dominated in that department, so we have to make sure that we are better.
“There were a million things that went wrong, if we are brutally honest. We lost every 50/50, we lost the collisions, we didn’t fall on loose balls, we kicked a lot of possession away.
“We sat off and let Pau come to us, getting momentum. That is stuff that I have got to fix.”
Dragons now prepare for the festive derby season with Cardiff Rugby first up at Rodney Parade on Boxing Day.
“This result won’t change our excitement for the derbies,” stated Flanagan.
“It just means we must work extremely hard to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“It is an honest group of players in our changing room, and they are disappointed. We’ll stick together and move forward.
“We take a week-by-week mentality, and the derby games are next. They are our focus, and we need to be better when Cardiff come.”
We had no control in that game and control is a big thing for us... it just didn’t look like us and that is what we are most disappointed with...
