The Men of Gwent salvaged a bonus point in Galway, but are determined to chalk up their first win of the season when the Ospreys visit Rodney Parade on Friday.
Director of Rugby Lyn Jones said: “Now we’ve got a six-day turnaround for the Ospreys at Rodney Parade on Friday and there was a determination in the changing room to be better.”
Connacht took command at the Sportsground after Dragons duo Tyler Morgan and Lee Byrne were sin-binned with the scores at 8-8 in the second-half.
Flanker Nic Cudd had replied for the Dragons after Pat Lam’s men took the lead through Eoin McKeon but Danie Poolman crossed to seal victory. And Dragons boss Lyn Jones was left ruing his side’s missed chances after they fell to their 18th straight defeat in Ireland.
He said: “It was a game that was well within our reach but we didn’t play very well. We are disappointed with the performance more than the result.
“We knew it would be a tight affair, it always is in Galway, and if you are going to win out here you have to be as accurate as you can, put pressure on Connacht and hopefully win by a score. They played better than us and deserved their victory but at the end of the season we will probably be happy with a bonus point.”
Second-row Andrew Coombs cut a frustrated figure on the final whistle and was left lamenting his side’s missed opportunities.
He said: “Too many of our good players weren’t on the money and there were too many mistakes early on, including from me. You can’t do that at places like Connacht. We came back well for a bonus point, which is important, but that wasn’t what we wanted from here.”
