THE Dragons A were hit by a late Munster charge when losing 34-17 on their first away trip in the new Celtic Cup.

James Chapron’s side went down to defeat in Cork as the Irish province followed up their wins against Connacht Eagles and the Ospreys.

After losing heavily to Cardiff Blues at Rodney Parade on opening weekend, the Dragons got up and running with a bonus-point win against the Eagles in Ystrad Mynach.

However, they couldn’t follow up on that success at Musgrave Park despite taking an early lead through the boot of fly-half Jacob Botica.

Munster struck back through captain and lock Fineen Wycherley and loosehead Jeremy Loughman to take command 14-3.

The Dragons ensured they were in touch at half-time thanks to a converted try by centre Calvin Wellington, who returned to the 15-man game from Super League giants St Helens last season.

The game remained nip and tuck going into the final quarter but a try by scrum-half John Poland and the kicking of fly-half Ben Healy stretched Munster 27-10 clear.

Wing Calvin Nash got the bonus score with two minutes to go before Dragons flanker Lennon Greggains, just back from a yellow card for a high tackle, crashed over for the final say.

The format of the new tournament sees the Welsh regions and the Irish provinces grouped together with the countries’ leading sides playing in a final.

The Dragons take on Ulster in Ballymena next Saturday before hosting Leinster at Ystrad Mynach and travelling west to face the Scarlets.

Dragons A: Carwyn Penny, Will Talbot-Davies, Calvin Wellington, James Benjamin, Deon Smith, Jacob Botica, Dafydd Buckland; Gerard Ellis, Rhys Lawrence, Chris Coleman, Joe Davies, Huw Taylor, James Thomas, Lennon Greggains (captain), Taine Basham

Replacements: Zac Hewlett, Scott Evans, Luke Yendle, Max Williams, Ben Fry, Rhodri Davies, Tom Hoppe, George Gasson

Scorers: tires – C Wellington, L Greggains; conversions – J Botica (2); penalty – J Botica