Head Coach Filo Tiatia praised the way his Dragons adapted to secure a try bonus point in Johannesburg – and called on his team to learn from the defeat in South Africa.
Centre Aneurin Owen and wing Rio Dyer grabbed try doubles as the Men of Gwent were defeated 42-26 by in-form Fidelity SecureDrive Lions at Ellis Park Stadium.
Dragons had led with half an hour to go before the Lions pulled clear in the BKT United Rugby Championship clash.
And Tiatia admitted his team had left points on the field but had also had to adapt after losing both scrum halves with over 20 minutes left.
“There were parts of the game we were disappointed with, but overall, I was proud of the grit and fight to stay in it,” said Tiatia.
“The Lions could have taken it away a little bit more around some of their transitional play, I thought they played well. But we stayed in moments.
“We had two HIAs with our half backs coming off and our young ten (Jac Lloyd) had to go and play a position he had never played before, so we had to adapt and stay agile to try and apply pressure.
“We spoke before the game about execution and finishing things off,” he added.
“There was one great break at the start of the second half from inside our 22 and we applied pressure but just didn’t finish it.
“However, we are proud of some of the growth of our younger players, and it was great to have players like Waino and Carts back in the team today.”
Our young ten had to go and play a position he had never played before, so we had to adapt and stay agile to try and apply pressure...
