Head Coach Dai Flanagan admitted his Dragons must ‘eradicate the errors’ after a 33-10 defeat to Irish heavyweights Leinster at Rodney Parade.
Centre Aneurin Owen grabbed a try on his first start for 20 months – but it was an afternoon of frustration at a wet Rodney Parade in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
The Leinstermen ran in five tries to secure the bonus while Dragons were reduced to 14 men after a second half red card to Taine Basham.
“It was 14-3 at half-time and we talked about putting the pressure on them, but we made an error, and they went the length of the field to score,” said Flanagan.
“It was 26-10 when Taine was sent off and we had a lineout 15 metres out with the opportunity to build pressure. Instead, we relieved pressure and it was game over.
“We are doing some stuff that is not acceptable. We are not going to get wins unless we start performing better and eradicate the errors.
“We did some good stuff and we did some really, really poor stuff. The challenge is on us to stop doing that.
“We have the Ospreys in a derby game next and it's personal. We have to get 15 on the field after a six-day turnaround but it's one we can look forward to and be excited about.
“The red card is massively frustrating,” added Flanagan.
“Taine is better than that, he knows that, and frustration and emotion can get the better of people. It’s got the better of Taine there.
“We know that he's better than that and we have to help him through this.”
We did some good stuff and we did some really, really poor stuff... The challenge is on us to stop doing that...
