Filo Tiatia admitted a young Dragons side could not stop the momentum as an impressive Emirates Lions defeated them to secure qualification in the EPCR Challenge Cup.
The Men of Gwent went to Emirates Airline Park – formerly Ellis Park – knowing realistically only a victory would secure knockout rugby in Europe.
But it was the free-flowing Lions who wrapped up the points needed to leave Interim Head Coach Tiatia reflecting on how his team had battled away in a hugely difficult and testing assignment in South Africa.
“The Lions are a very good team and it’s always tough to come and play in Ellis Park on their home ground,” he stated.
“They were much better than us today. I can’t fault any effort from the players, they tried to stay in it.
“The Lions had a lot of momentum and a big pack, so they got gain line and just applied pressure.
“We didn’t have any set piece ball that we could play off, couldn’t build any momentum, particularly in that first half.
“There is lots to work on and we will keep working and building.
“Like anything there has got to be a silver lining in learning and the average age of our back line was about 22 or 23 so it was a young group,” he added.
“I am not making any excuses, but it is an opportunity for them to experience more games at this level.
“We knew what we were doing - we are giving players opportunities.
“We need to recover really well, travel back and then get ready for Munster.”
Dragons must now jet back from Johannesburg and start preparing for a BKT United Rugby Championship fixture with Munster Rugby at Rodney Parade next Saturday evening.
“Recovery is really important,” said Tiatia. “We have some players back home that played some Super Rugbi Cymru and a lot of players that are still coming back from injury.
“We need to get bodies ready, the players here in particular, and then we can start preparing from Tuesday morning and get ready to go again.”
They were much better than us today. I can’t fault any effort from the players, they tried to stay in it...
