Dragons wait for victory in South Africa continued as they endured a disappointing 49-24 defeat to 14-man Emirates Lions in the BKT United Rugby Championship in Johannesburg.
The Men of Gwent made a dream start to the game at altitude as the recalled Harri Keddie crashed over at Emirates Airline Park.
Bit it slowly turned into an afternoon of sheer frustration as breakaway tries from Henco van Wyk and Quan Horn – either side of a red card to home lock Ruben Schoeman – put the hosts clear.
Edwill van der Merwe dived in - after another mistake by the visitors - before Ashton Hewitt scored his first of the season to spark comeback hopes.
Bradley Roberts grabbed a third with 12 minutes left but there was no late drama as Lions eased to victory to leave Dragons wondering what could have been.
Dai Flanagan made seven changes to the side that lost to Sharks with captain Steff Hughes, Jordan Williams, Ashton Hewitt, Rhodri Williams, Rhodri Jones, Lloyd Fairbrother and Keddie all called-up.
There was also a late change as Aneurin Owen was called into replace Sio Tomkinson.
An early run down the left saw Lions look to break away and Rhodri Williams yellow carded for a deliberate knock on.
Brilliant defence stopped a driving maul and when the cross field was changed down by Owen the Dragons broke themselves at searing pace.
Wainwright and Jordan Williams kept the ball alive before Hewitt took it on and then Keddie crashed over for a superb long-range score.
Dragons were playing some electric attacking rugby despite being a man down as they got outside and Dyer burst down the right before working the ball infield.
But from a period of dominance the visitors made a costly error with a grubber kick charged down and centre van Wyk went over against the run of play.
Nott ripped in the tackle to spark another breakout from deep as Dragons defended stoutly against a powerful Lions side who were injecting pace whenever they could.
A penalty against Keddie at the breakdown saw Sanele Nohamba take three to put Lions ahead for the first time in the game.
Hewitt was left on the floor after a nasty collision in midfield and, after the TMO was consulted it, a red card was issued to Schoeman for a head collision.
Reed kicked deep and the pack went for the drive, but the Lions held firm, latched onto spilled ball, and then went the length with impressive offloading allowing Quan Horn to race over.
Nohamba added another penalty before the interval as the breakdown battle continued to be dominated by the hosts.
A big scrum against seven forwards forced a late penalty for Dragons and Reed took the three on offer to cut the lead to 18-10 at half-time.
Dragons needed a strong start to the second half but instead made error after error as Roberts was sent to the sin bin for a trip and then spilled high ball fell to Edwill van der Merwe to dive over.
Back came Dragons as pure speed from Hewitt saw him break from deep and bounce off tackles.
Possession was held until Owen broke a tackle and Dyer sent Hewitt over. Nohamba struck another penalty, after a lengthy TMO consultation for two incidents against Dragons.
Dyer broke away in midfield and fed Jordan Williams, but his pass was picked off and kicked away and then the five-metre lineout was lost and Lions cleared.
The bonus point was secured by the Lions as Richard Kriel rolled out of a tackle and scrum half Morne van den Berg finished the job.
Dragons saw a powerful driving lineout sacked illegally before they repeated the feat with Roberts the man to touch down.
But any fightback dreams were quickly extinguished as another error saw Lions come alive and Number Eight Francke Horn bashed over before van der Merwe added late gloss.
Timeline:
06m Keddie t Reed c 0-7
12m Van Wyk t 5-7
23m Nohamba p 8-7
29m Q. Horn t Nohamba c 15-7
34m Nohamba p 18-7
40m Reed p 18-10
44m van der Merwe t Nohamba c 25-10
49m Hewitt t Reed c 25-17
54m Nohamba p 28-17
59m van den Berg t Nohamba c 35-17
67m Roberts t Reed c 35-24
71m F Horn t Nohamba c 42-24
78m van der Merwe t Nohamba c 49-24
Emirates Lions: Quan Horn, Richard Kriel, Henco van Wyk, Marius Louw, Edwill van der Merwe, Sanele Nohamba, Morne van den Berg; JP Smith, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Ruben Schoeman, Ruan Delport, Emmanuel Tshituka, Ruan Venter, Francke Horn
Replacements: Jaco Visagie, Corne Fourie, Ruan Smith, Willem Alberts, Hanru Sirgel, JC Pretorius, Jordan Hendrikse, Rabz Maxwane
Dragons RFC: Jordan Williams, Rio Dyer, Steff Hughes, Aneurin Owen, Ashton Hewitt (Rosser 26-35), Will Reed, Rhodri Williams (Blacker 63); Rhodri Jones (Seiuli 62), Bradley Roberts, Lloyd Fairbrother (Yendle 66), Matthew Screech (Davies 67), George Nott, Sean Lonsdale (Benjamin 48-54, Woodman 62), Harri Keddie (Benjamin 60), Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: James Benjamin, Aki Seiuli, Luke Yendle, Joe Davies, Ryan Woodman, Dane Blacker, Corey Baldwin, Ewan Rosser
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 39th game)
