Dragons long wait for away day success in the BKT United Rugby Championship continued as a second half fightback fell short against play-off bound Benetton Rugby in Italy.
The Men of Gwent have not tasted success away from Rodney Parade in the Championship since beating Scarlets in Llanelli in April 2022.
Dai Flanagan’s men threatened a stunning comeback with second half scores from Jared Rosser, Dane Blacker and Che Hope.
But they came up short in a frantic finale and can have little complaints against an impressive Benetton side who scored six tries.
Dragons now turn their attention to home games with Connacht and DHK Stormers and two away Welsh derbies to finish the season.
Dragons made six changes to the starting line-up with Dan Lydiate captaining while fit-again centre Sio Tomkinson made his first appearance since December.
Spilled ball from the hosts from the kick-off gave Dragons an early attacking platform, but Cai Evans lost the ball forward in the tackle as he looked for the outside break.
A first scrum of the game looked ominous for Flanagan’s men as Benetton shunted forward to win a penalty.
The Italians broke in midfield after a suspiciously forward looking inside pass and Rhyno Smith looked to offload out of the final tackle but he failed to find hands.
The home full back, though, did not have to wait long as a slick move from the backs down the left flank sent him over for the opening try. Albornoz added the extras.
Dragons regrouped and a high win in the air from Dyer secured a penalty that Reed kicked to touch. The resulting lineout was intercepted when Basham looked wide to send Dyer over.
A superb 50:22 from Evans secured more attacking ball, after a scrappy five-minute spell from both sides, yet despite more pressure there was no way through for Dragons.
George Nott did well to steal lineout to stop Benetton breaking before a scintillating offload from Italian international Ignacio Brex sent Andy Uren into space, but he lost control as he was taken down by Owen.
Jared Rosser broke a tackle and Basham and Evans both carried hard, until the final offload in the tackle form Martinez was adjudged forward as Blacker looked to support on his right shoulder.
Dragons were enjoying more territory in the opening half hour, but Benetton continued to carry a real threat in broken play as they looked right but only found the tramlines instead of a green jersey.
The Italians struck again on the half hour, as a patient driving maul was touched down by hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi for a 12-0 lead.
Dragons were then the architects of their own downfall when Uren picked off a blind pass from Aneurin Owen and raced over from halfway just before the interval for a 19-0 lead.
Benetton started the second half like a train with Albornoz finding Smith with a neat nudge through into space.
However, Albornoz was then the villain as he was picked off by Rosser and the wing pinned his ears back to race over from inside his own half. Evans added the extras.
The bonus point, though, was wrapped up six minutes into the second half as wing Onisi Ratave brushed off a tackle from Evans, after collecting a cross field kick, and dotted down.
Aaron Wainwright, Joe Westwood, and Dmitri Arhip joined the battle with over half an hour to go. Westwood was immediately into the action as Evans and Blacker led a breakout from deep while centre partner Owen had to be alert to race back and mop up danger after a huge punt into space.
Benetton were looking to offload and play loose, but for the second time they overplayed and Blacker picked off the ball and had the pace to make it over from his own half.
Che Hope, Jordan Williams and Harri Keddie were the next to enter the fray as Flanagan looked to inject fresh legs and more pace into the side.
Big carries from Wainwright and Carter punched holes in the home defence, only for Benetton to come back with a huge scrum and force Dragons of their own ball.
The Italians ended any hope of a comeback when visiting scrum half Hope was charged down by replacement Edoardo Iachizzi and he touched down.
Michele Lamaro added late gloss as Benetton kept the ball alive and sent the home skipper over.
There was still time for Hope to sprint over after a break from Dyer, but a final push fell short after Smith’s yellow card stopped a move down the left.
Timeline:
08m Smith t Albornoz c 7-0
30m Lucchesi t 12-0
36m Uren t Albronoz c 19-0
43m Rosser t Evans c 19-7
46m Ratave t 24-7
52m Blacker t 24-12
71m Iachizzi t 29-12
75m Lamaro t Umaga c 36-12
78m Hope t Reed c 36-19
Benetton Rugby: Rhyno Smith, Leonardo Marin, Ignacio Brex, Marco Zanon, Onisi Ratave, Tomas Albornoz, Andy Uren; Mirco Spagnolo, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Giosué Zilocchi, Scott Scrafton, Riccardo Favretto, Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro, Toa Halafihi
Replacements: Bautista Bernasconi, Ivan Nemer, Tiziano Pasquali, Gideon Koegelenberg, Edoardo Iachizzi, Alessandro Izekor, Dewaldt Duvenage, Jacob Umaga
Dragons RFC: Cai Evans (J. Williams 57), Rio Dyer, Sio Tomkinson (Westwood 47), Aneurin Owen, Jared Rosser, Will Reed, Dane Blacker (Hope 57); Rodrigo Martinez (Seiuli 65), James Benjamin (Coghlan 69), Luke Yendle (Arhip 47), Ben Carter, George Nott, Dan Lydiate (Wainwright 47), Sean Lonsdale, Taine Basham (Keddie 57)
Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Aki Seiuli, Dmitri Arhip, Harrison Keddie, Aaron Wainwright, Che Hope, Joe Westwood, Jordan Williams
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU, 83rd game)
Attendance: 4,865
