Head Coach Dai Flanagan praised the battling qualities of his Dragons after they fought back to claim a deserved bonus point against DHL Stormers at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The champions surged into a 28-0 lead in the first half in the BKT United Rugby Championship clash in Port Elizabeth.
But Dragons dug deep and responded with tries from Jordan Williams, Aki Seiuli, JJ Hanrahan and Josh Reynolds to take a point in a 34-26 defeat.
“It was very similar the last week and we just left ourselves too much to do today and were out of the fight by half-time,” admitted Flanagan.
“You can't question the character of the team, the effort of the team.
“The Stormers is as good as it gets in this league away from home. They brought an intensity we haven't seen this season and they move the ball well and won a lot of collisions.
“They had seven out of nine internationals back and they come with intent, and I think it shocked us. You’ve got to get used to that level.”
Dragons battled back in the second period to grab three tries and keep Stormers out.
And Flanagan was delighted with the way his side adapted.
“We won a lot of 50/50s in the second half specifically,” he said.
“We were able to create them, because first half we didn't have an opportunity to create them through lack of accuracy, turnover penalty.
“It’s the same story as last week, but I can’t help but walk away being proud of the group.
“We gave away a lot of cheap penalties for offsides off kick-offs, and that gives us a defensive set on halfway and then a defensive set on our line. That’s where they scored their tries.
“We didn't do that second half. We were able to absorb the pressure in the middle third and create an error for them.
“We had some indiscipline, but the pleasing thing is how we corrected it in the second half and it takes a tough group of people to do that.
“I thought the bench was excellent. A lot of young kids on the bench who came on and stood up.”
One blow for Dragons was the loss of centre Aneurin Owen who limped off just five minutes after coming on as a replacement.
“We will get around Aneurin Owen because he’s got another injury,” added Flanagan.
“He has had a real staggered season and he is a talented kid. We have just got to make sure we support him through.
“We don’t know what he has done yet. He has a pain down the outside of his knee.
“He looks like he has hyper extended it on contact. We will get him scanned as soon as possible and look after him as best we can.”
You can't question the character of the team, the effort of the team...
