Head Coach Filo Tiatia admitted he was disappointed by the result but proud of the effort and fight from his team in the late loss to Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship at Electric Brewery Field.
The Men of Gwent were denied late on for a second successive week as Keelan Giles scored in the final minute to deny battling Dragons.
Dragons had looked set to record an away victory the performance warranted into the late drama.
And Tiatia said that while his Dragons could have been more clinical there was nothing to fault in the desire they showed throughout a tense Welsh derby.
“We are disappointed. I thought we played really well,” said Tiatia.
“We lost a couple of players early in the game with Rob (Hunt) and then Wyn (Jones) within 11 minutes. Our young guys had to come on and play the distance.
“The tackle that Cebo (Dlamini) made was a tired tackle and then we had the yellow card.
“We lose Buzz (Oli Burrows) with a head knock, and he failed the HIA, so we had to lose players and be down to 13 with two minutes to play. “We had to try and hold out, scrap and fight, but they got through.
“I can’t fault the effort,” he added. “I’m proud of the group and we deserved more than what we got.
“But we also weren’t clinical enough. We had seven or eight entries inside their 22 and we didn’t convert.
“We’ve got to be better around our body height in the contact and cleaning bodies. We’ve got to keep sharpening up.”
Reflecting on the second block of the season, Tiatia added: “I am seeing real growth around staying in the fight, not giving up, and not giving up for each other.
“The leadership has been good, as I have spoken about in recent weeks, and that hasn’t changed.
“Ben Carter and Waino (Aaron Wainwright) are away and some of our players have stepped up, (Harri) Keddie did that and went the distance.
“We are heading in the right direction. We have just got to get the rub of the green and hopefully get a win away from home.
“The scoreboard didn’t go our way tonight, but we are a team that is scrapping for each other with a tougher edge.
“We are building, the mentality is a lot stronger around moments, and we have got to keep growing.”
The scoreboard didn’t go our way tonight, but we are a team that is scrapping for each other with a tougher edge...
