NEWPORT Gwent Dragons boss Kingsley Jones hailed the fighting performance of his players in their 27-17 defeat to Ulster after the “distraction” of the Welsh Rugby Union’s takeover deal.

The WRU outlined their proposed deal to take control of Rodney Parade last week with Dragons chiefs warning that they will go bust if it doesn’t go through.

Two days after the governing body’s announcement, the region went up against Guinness PRO12 title hopefuls Ulster and pushed them hard with a tenacious display.

The Dragons were level at 17-17 thanks to tries by lock Rynard Landman and flanker Ollie Griffiths plus seven points from the boot of fly-half Angus O’Brien until being hit by 10 points in the last seven minutes by the men from Belfast.

Head coach Jones was pleased with the application of his squad after the takeover talk and lingering fears about the future.

“There are certain people above that try and protect everybody but there is no getting away from it and there’s a lot going on,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a worry but it can be a distraction, it’s our livelihood and there is one eye on it.

“We try and do our best to focus on what we are doing and be professional, but you could say there is a distraction.

“It’s another thing on our plate. It’s been going on a long while and there is a lot going on but we do try and focus on the rugby.

“You can’t avoid it, especially in my position when I am in front of the media, while your friends, people in the street, supporters all ask you about it.

“We’ve just got to wait to see what happens but I couldn’t criticise the players for their performance or work rate against Ulster.”

The Dragons were denied a deserved consolation bonus point by Ulster’s third try in the closing stages but Jones was still heartened by the display, especially after horror shows in their previous two outings.

They had shipped 15 tries and 101 points in heavy losses to Leinster and Glasgow but pushed fourth-placed Ulster, who have now won six on the spin, all the way.

Jones said: “We asked for a response from the players and they fronted up by playing some good rugby, and attacking rugby against a very good Ulster team.

“A lot of players in that Ulster team are world class and ours matched them, it’s just unfortunate that the scoreboard doesn’t reflect that.

“In terms of the performance, that was what we needed. I honestly felt the wheels were starting to come off (after Glasgow) because it’s been a long season and we have such a small squad.

“But they had a rest and performed against Ulster – we talked about working harder than them and we did and made them fight for everything.

“That’s all you can ask for. The possession stats and the number of phases we played were fantastic, the scrum was excellent but the big stat that we wanted was the scoreboard but unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”