NEWPORT Gwent Dragons have never won anything. In fact, you can count the number of times they have even come close to christening their trophy cabinet on one hand.

In 2004 Mike Ruddock's side entered the final day of the Celtic League with a shot of the title but lost out to the Scarlets while in 2007 Paul Turner's team couldn't stun Clermont Auvergne in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup.

In 2011 they were thumped in the last four of the Anglo-Welsh Cup by Gloucester at Kingsholm and it was once again the Cherry and Whites that denied them in the final of the Premiership Rugby 7s last summer.

Seldom do the Dragons play knockout rugby and rarely do they even have a genuine shot at qualification from their European pool at the turn of the year.

Forget prioritising an improved league performance or finishing above Cardiff Blues in the bottom half of the Guinness Pro 12, I want to see them have a crack at a competition and a stunning win against Stade Francais gives them a chance to do just do that.

If the Dragons can back up their Paris success against Newcastle then a quarter-final spot will be within their grasp, perhaps even one at Rodney Parade.

But not everyone feels the magic of the Challenge Cup.

Stade left a number of stars out of their European roster, perhaps confident that they had enough in their big-budget squad to deal with the Dragons, Newcastle and Bucharest.

Most of their Top 14 rivals didn't exactly take things seriously while the Falcons have also prioritised their league campaign, wary of leaving the door ajar for London Welsh despite a relegation dogfight looking highly unlikely.

Television companies – though thankfully not S4C, who provided excellent highlights of the Dragons' win – hardly bother with the second-tier competition while it doesn't command many column inches in other papers.

This is not a new phenomenon, the second-tier competition has always been ignored, but now it has been hit by tinkering to the format.

In football it took UEFA long enough to realise that an extra incentive was needed to give the Europa League a lift. The winning team in Warsaw on May 27 won't only add to their trophy cabinet but will secure a spot in the 2015/16 Champions League.

The new Challenge Cup no longer has that carrot because it was decided to give a boost to the bottom halves of the Pro12, Top 14 and Aviva Premiership by setting up playoffs with the prize of the 20th spot in the Champions Cup.

But it's not all doom and gloom, I predict that things will go crank up a few levels in rounds five and six of the group stages while all the quarter-finalists will give it their all.

And I know what I'd prefer in April if director of rugby Lyn Jones is faced by the prospect of prioritising either knockout Challenge Cup rugby or the Pro12 run-in against the Scarlets, Edinburgh and Munster.

Medals won't be handed out to the Dragons if they qualify for the premier tournament.

IGNORE the naysayers who attempt to belittle Newport Gwent Dragons' win in Paris by pointing to the list of Stade Francais absentees.

To put the 38-22 success into context, the Dragons had only ever won once before on French soil, were on a 10-game winless streak away from Rodney Parade, were suffering from low confidence courtesy of a shocking start to the Guinness Pro12 and played for 76 minutes with one specialist centre and a single out-and-out lock.

They fielded a novice fly-half in Angus O'Brien while Stade's big budget means that when they called their third-choice number 10 off the bench it was South African international Morne Steyn.

The odds were stacked against the Dragons despite the Parisians' tinkering but Lyn Jones' charges delivered. Now, after a timely boost, they must follow up with victory against Newcastle.