Head Coach Dai Flanagan praised the collectiveness of his Dragons as they battled back to claim a deserved losing bonus point against Ulster in the BKT United Rugby Championship at Kingspan Stadium.
The home side wrapped up a try bonus point by the break in Belfast but a spirited display from the Men of Gwent saw them hit back.
Matthew Screech and Brodie Coghlan built on a first half try from James Benjamin before a last-minute penalty try secured a point on the road.
Flanagan admitted his side still had much to work on as Ulster ran out convincing winners.
But the manner of the fightback and way his team played until the closing seconds gave him plenty to be optimistic about.
“Our effort, especially when you look at the maul tries, was outstanding, but it came in peaks and troughs,” said Flanagan.
“Our growth is to be outstanding from minute one to minute eighty.
“We’ll get there, we need to work hard to get there, and that is our challenge. “We can see some growth from us today and we need to build on it.”
Dragons suffered yet more injury frustration on the road as loan back row Harry Taylor was forced off midway through the first half.
“It’s a physical game,” conceded Flanagan. “Rugby is arguably a big man sport and is collision based.
“You’ve got to put the work in to avoid these injuries and that is our challenge now, as a culture and growth for us.
“We are working hard. Individually we are trying to get better and to see the collectiveness up front was superb. We can build and grow on that.
“We spoke pre-game about not giving Ulster anything and there were occasions when we gave them some easy ins and some opportunity,” he concluded.
“If we could have corrected that today it would have been a much tighter affair. It’s clearly an area we are going to work on.”
Our effort, especially when you look at the maul tries, was outstanding, but it came in peaks and troughs...
