KINGSLEY Jones admitted “there are lots of lessons to be learned” from Newport Gwent Dragons’ European Challenge Cup exit at the hands of Montpellier, but he was still proud of all his players following their 22-12 semi-final loss at the Altrad Stadium.

The Dragons were staring at a potential cricket score when Montpellier went into a 22-0 lead during the second half on Saturday, with South African World Cup winner Bismarck du Plessis scoring the hosts’ only try on the hour.

But the visitors showed their teeth and didn’t cave in, as Hallam Amos and Carl Meyer crossed to see the Dragons win the second period, even if they did come up short in the final outcome.

“There are lots of lessons to be learned,” said head coach Jones. “I’m proud of the way they played, they stuck in there, and they weren’t overawed by the occasion.

“It’s one of the toughest places to come and play rugby, and we stuck in it to the end.

“I thought the bench were excellent, we’ve just got to take our opportunities with kicks at goal of course, and just a few penalties.

“The truth is, the scrum was a struggle for us at times and that’s probably the difference I felt.

“The biggest thing we learned is that we need to finish better in our pool stages.

“It’s two years on the trot we’ve had an away semi-final.

“I’ve been lucky enough to go through to these stages as a player and you have to do well in your pool, it makes the last part so much easier.”

He added: “I can’t fault anyone’s effort. A lot of young fellas would have grown tonight and some of the senior players stepped up.

“All the replacements have gone on and done a good job.

“They (Montpellier) controlled the scoreboard but ultimately the biggest positive for this group is that they never gave in and they kept battling.

“We’re all disappointed to lose. A lot of work has gone into this European campaign, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but we’ll learn from it, and we’ve got another big game next Saturday and we’ve got to prepare for that now.”