NEWPORT Gwent Dragons boss Lyn Jones lauded the defensive desire of his charges as they signed off their Rodney Parade campaign with a Guinness Pro12 win against Edinburgh.

The Dragons triumphed 19-5 in Newport thanks to a second half try by Hugh Gustafson, 11 points from the left boot of fly-half Jason Tovey and a long-range penalty by full-back Tom Prydie.

It wasn’t the prettiest of game but the Dragons, with back row pair Nic Cudd and Toby Faletau to the fore, put in a massive and accurate defensive shift to close down an Edinburgh side that thrashed them 45-16 in the European Challenge Cup last month.

They thrived at the breakdown, held their own in the tight and prevented scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, who had run amok at Murrayfield, from pulling the strings.

It looked as though they would enjoy their first league shut-out since their 48-0 win against the Borders in 2007 only for Stuart McInally to barge over from close range in the 77th minute.

Nonetheless, it was a fourth Rodney Parade win on the spin and Jones was thrilled by the way that his charges bounced back from the heavy semi-final loss and their 29-10 disappointment against the Scarlets at Judgement Day.

“Edinburgh are very good at what they do and we knew that we had to close them off and force them into Plan B, which we did,” he said.

“We showed a lot of passion, desire and pride in the shirt to make up for two poor performances.

“We didn’t become a bad team in the space of eight days. We knew that we had to remind ourselves of what we are good at and get back to it.

“It’s about learning. It was a bitter pill to swallow in Edinburgh. They rose to the occasion and played really well, everything went well for them and they scored 45 points.

“But Boris Stankovich comes back, Rynard Landman comes back, Nic Cudd comes back and does some heroics, that’s what you need – best players in big games.”

The victory ensures that the Dragons will finish above Cardiff Blues in the table, avoiding the tag as Wales’ lowest-ranked side for the first time in five years.

It also means that the sixth-placed Scarlets will join the Ospreys in the Champions Cup if they beat the men from the capital with a bonus point in Llanelli on Sunday.

- A welcome addition to last night's game was the availability of the big screen for the officials despite the game not being televised.

The presence of cameras enabled Irish official Gary Conway to check two aerial collisions, opting to give a penalty and a warning to both Edinburgh's Jack Cuthbert and the Dragons' Ashton Hewitt, although he was well-placed to award both tries.

Lyn Jones is among a number of coaches who have been highly critical at the lack of footage available for non-televised encounters in the Pro12.