DRAGONS boss Bernard Jackman says he shared Ross Moriarty’s frustration at the “mindboggling” refereeing of their derby defeat to Cardiff Blues, saying that Ian Davies’ performance was “not acceptable”.

The Rodney Parade region suffered a 23-16 loss to their fiercest rivals in Newport on Saturday, losing their lead in the final quarter to suffer a 22nd successive Guinness PRO14 derby defeat.

Jackman concedes that the men from the Arms Park were worthy winners but feels that the Dragons didn’t get the rub of green from Welsh Rugby Union referee Ian Davies.

Wales number eight Moriarty vented his frustration at the whistler in the second half – and was warned that he would be yellow-carded if the dissent continued – and the head coach has defended his star player and instead slammed Davies.

“I feel sorry for Ross and I feel sorry for our players because we had a really poor referee,” said Jackman.

“We had an issue with Ian Davies against the Ospreys last season and made a formal complaint and were told it was unacceptable.

“He is refereeing a different type of game to everyone else; the challenge in the air against Daf Howells he didn’t want to look at, the elbow to the face of Ross Moriarty on the ground, Ross was blocked on a kick chase.

“I can understand why Ross was frustrated because of the inconsistency of the decisions. There were very strange refereeing decisions, very poor.

“The only consistent thing with Ian is his inconsistency. It was just not acceptable in a match of that magnitude to have such a poor performance.

“That’s nothing against the Blues – they were excellent and deserved their win.”

“I knew after the game at the press conference [about Davies’ refereeing] but I wanted people to understand I wasn’t speaking with emotion,” continued Jackman.

“I have spent 72 hours thinking about it and have looked at the game over and over again. It was just unacceptable and the players deserve better.

“It’s unfortunate that a big game with a good crowd, a great contest between two good teams, was influenced by some very poor refereeing.”

Last month Edinburgh’s Richard Cockerill slammed the standard of PRO14 refereeing after his side’s win against Connacht, a game that was also refereed by Davies.

Jackman has also raised his concerns with the league’s elite referee manager Greg Garner, a former Test official.

“I sent my report on Monday,” said the former Ireland hooker. “I have learnt over the last year and a half that going through the proper channels is great, and Greg is brilliant, but the message doesn’t seem to get back to the officials.

“Poor referees are allowed to be poor every week. That’s not good for the PRO14, which is a great competition. I know Greg is driving hard, but they need to do more, and do more quicker.”

Jackman also said he isn’t concerned about Moriarty’s temperament.

“Ross is so driven to win and wants to protect the team. When he sees decisions that are completely mindboggling over 80 minutes he is bound to get upset,” said the head coach.

“I understand Ross’ frustration, he is such a good player because he plays with his heart on his sleeve and wants to win so much.

“When he feels that we are being hard done by – consistently – he definitely wants to make his point felt but that won’t happen again.”