DRAGONS boss Filo Tiatia ‘feels like a broken record’ after another frustrating defeat at Rodney Parade that was a huge blow in their bid for Challenge Cup qualification.

The Dragons’ hopes of qualifying for the last 16 are hanging by a thread after a damaging 24-15 defeat to the Pau in Newport.

Wales number eight Aaron Wainwright’s try cut the gap to 9-8 at half-time but the French team powered away after the restart, with wing Rio Dyer’s score merely a consolation.

It means that the Dragons need to cause a huge upset by avoiding defeat against the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday – and they have never won in South Africa.

“In the first 15 to 20 minutes we applied a lot of pressure but then we kept on taking it off,” said Tiatia. “We kept turning the ball over, particularly on the edge.

“We will have to do a really honest review. There were a lot good things from certain individuals in the game that helped us build momentum but we kept on releasing it.

“We just can’t do that against teams in this competition. I feel like a broken record at the moment, talking about growth and learning, but that is where we are at.”

Interim head coach Filo Tiatia before the Dragons game against Pau (Image: Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans Agency)

The Dragons must now recover quickly before flying to Johannesburg on Tuesday for Saturday’s shootout to join Montpellier, Pau and the Ospreys in making it out of Pool Two.

They will be without full-back Cai Evans after he suffered what is feared to be a serious injury to his right Achilles while captain and fly-half Angus O’Brien will be a serious doubt after coming off at half-time with a hand injury.

Flanker/lock Shane Lewis-Hughes should be good to feature after he was a late withdrawal against Pau because of illness, with Tiatia making the decision to pull him out of the matchday squad when the forward was keen to play.

One positive was the return of centre Harri Ackerman, who made a first Dragons appearance of the season after returning from a broken leg with Newport RFC.

“It was good to see Harri play,” said Tiatia. “He earned an opportunity, it's a different level to Super Rygbi Cymru but he did well.

“There are bits of his game to keep improving on but I was really pleased with him.”