NEWPORT Gwent Dragons fell short in their bid for a European Rugby Challenge Cup miracle in France after paying the price for a slow start against bulky Brive.

The Dragons had to win either 4-0 or 5-1 in match points at the Stade Amedee-Domenech to sneak Pool Three top spot and earn a place in the quarter-finals for a third successive season.

However, Kingsley Jones’ men paid the price for going 15-0 down early on and then, after showing commendable spirit to close to within three points entering the final quarter thanks to tries by scrum-halves Tavis Knoyle and Sarel Pretorius (2), were bulldozed by their powerful French hosts.

The Dragons travelled with hope of succeeding in their mission improbable thanks to victories at Stade Francais and Pau but were outmuscled by Brive and still haven’t won away from Rodney Parade this season.

The Challenge Cup has provided some salvation in the past two seasons but their failure to progress is down to their travel sickness with a tally of zero points from fixtures at Enisei-STM, Worcester and Brive.

They did show tenacity and enterprise to make a game of it in France – with scrum-half Sarel Pretorius adding snap – but they just couldn’t live with the Brive bulk.

The hosts named a much-changed team to the one that opened the tournament with a 37-16 hammering in Newport with their side featuring 14 players who had beaten Grenoble in their last Top 14 match.

It showed with an excellent start by the hosts in which they bossed possession and went on the charge with their hefty runners, lock Sisaro Koyamaibole and centre Seremaia Burotu to the fore.

And Brive got their reward in the sixth minute when a scrum penalty was kicked to the corner for tighthead Sos Bekoshvili to go over from a driving lineout.

Gaetan Germain’s conversion struck the left upright but the full-back made no mistake with a 13th minute penalty and was lining another kick almost straight from the restart.

Brive worked the ball to the right and Germain combined with flanker Poutasi Luafutu to put USA speedster Taku Ngwenya over.

The extras meant it was 15-0 after 15 minutes and the Dragons were already staring at elimination given they needed to deny their hosts anything.

However, they got just the boost they needed entering the second quarter thanks to a superbly worked try.

The Dragons attacked patiently just outside the 22 and then flanker Lewis Evans shifted the ball from first receiver to fly-half Angus O’Brien, who fired a flat pass to put Ed Jackson through a hole in midfield.

The number eight kept his composure to draw the last man and sent scrum-half Tavis Knoyle over for a try that his half-back partner converted for 15-7.

The Dragons had worked their way into the game and missed two chances to further reduce the deficit, wing Adam Hughes going for a miracle pass when into the 22 and then loosehead Sam Hobbs pinged for holding on close to the line after the forwards had hammered away following a lineout steal by Nick Crosswell.

They were made to pay when Brive struck a huge blow following an aimless clearing kick when the visitors seemingly had numbers out wide, the counter-attack ending with prop Damien Lavergne reaching over after lovely offloading.

At 22-7 the Dragons had to respond before the break to stand any chance of a miracle victory, and they did.

Sarel Pretorius went close just seconds after coming off the bench for the injured Knoyle when lock Cory Hill had gone charging into the 22 but visiting centre Romain Cabannes was yellow-carded for killing the ball.

The Dragons went for the corner and, playing with penalty advantage, their South African scrum-half this time made it over for a try that O’Brien converted.

The visitors needed to make the most of their numerical advantage early in the second half and they did, in remarkable fashion.

It looked like Brive were going to apply the killer blow when hammering away in the 22 but Koyamaibole knocked on and Pretorius hacked clear and then gratefully gathered the kind bounce to race over down the right.

At 22-19 the game was very much in the balance with a few of the large Brive boys blowing as the hour approached.

However, their scrummaging superiority enabled them to enjoy a spell of sustained pressure in the Dragons’ half and it told with Bekoshvili enjoying a carbon copy of his earlier try.

Germain converted to make it 29-19 and not only did the Dragons now need to score a fourth try to progress but they have to win by more than seven points.

That was never going to happen, especially with Brive in bulldozer mode.

The French side repeated the trick for a third driving lineout try with the ginormous tighthead Patrick Toetu doing what his colleague Bekoshvili had done, Germain making it 36-19 with the conversion.

The Dragons gamely attempted to cross for a four-try bonus in the closing stages but Brive slammed the door shut to ensure it was a pointless end to the Challenge Cup in 2016/17.

Brive: G Germain (B Paopeyre 70), T Ngwenya, R Cabannes, S Burotu (C Tuatara 70), G Namy, M Ugalde, V Lobzhanidze (J-B Pejoine 57-79), D Lavergne (K Buys 54), T Acquier (F Da Ros 5), S Bekoshvili (P Toetu 67), J Uys (J Snyman 46), S Koyamaibole (D Waqaniburotu 54), F Sanconnie, P Luafutu, P Hauman (captain).

Scorers: tries – S Bekoshvili (2), T Ngwenya, D Lavergne, P Toetu; conversions – G Germain (4); penalty – G Germain

Yellow card: R Cabannes

Dragons: C Meyer, A Hughes, S Beard, A Warren, P Howard, A O’Brien (D Jones 65), T Knoyle (S Pretorius 36), S Hobbs (P Price 57), R Thomas (R Buckley 57), L Fairbrother, N Crosswell, C Hill (R Landman 58), L Evans (captain, H Keddie 57), O Griffiths (N Cudd 63), E Jackson.

Scorers: tries – T Knoyle, S Pretorius (2); conversions – A O’Brien (2)

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)