NEWPORT Gwent Dragons boss Kingsley Jones hailed the character of his players for stopping things getting ugly against Leinster in Dublin, writes Chris Kirwan.

The Dragons were downed 28-15 by the Guinness Pro12 title hopefuls but rallied after shipping a fourth try in the opening stages of the second half.

Wing Pat Howard and scrum-half Sarel Pretorius scored tries and the visitors ended on the front foot in a bid to claim an unlikely bonus point.

They came up short but Jones believes their showing bodes well for the crucial European Rugby Challenge Cup double-header against Worcester with part one coming at Sixways on Saturday.

"There were a couple of soft tries that put us on the back foot but I asked at half-time for us to win the second half and we did that," said the head coach.

"Leinster had 25 minutes of front foot stuff but we gave the ball back to them so easily after working so hard to get it and our defence wasn't good enough at times.

"It could have got away from us and I was pleased with the character and the intent that we showed at the end – we weren't far away from leaving with a bonus point.

"There was a point around 45 minutes when it could have turned ugly but the replacements came on and were excellent.

"The belief that we showed was pleasing and that's important with a big few weeks coming up against Worcester and with the derbies against Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys.

"You can't fault the spirit of our team and that was shown by Tom Prydie breaking his nose but coming back on at the end.

"The chat in the changing room is great, Lewis Evans, Cory Hill, Rynard Landman spoke so well. They want to take that last 30 minutes to start the game in Worcester."

Full-back Carl Meyer and wing Pat Howard will go through the head injury protocols ahead of the trip to the West Midlands.

The Warriors, who have lost to Enisei and Brive, have a quick turnaround from their Sunday fixture against Wasps.