NEWPORT Gwent Dragons endured a European nightmare after being hammered 38-18 by Enisei to join the Russians’ growing list of Challenge Cup scalps.

The Rodney Parade region shipped five tries in a humiliating loss at Trud Stadium in Krasnodar, a crushing blow in their bid for a third successive season in the knockout stages of Europe.

After beating Brive in Newport with a bonus point on opening weekend, they will now need a victory in France or Worcester plus a clean sweep at home to make the quarter-finals.

Enisei now top the group and, remarkably, will be thinking that a success against Brive in Sochi in round three will give them a chance of making the quarters themselves if they can somehow repeat their home heroics on their travels.

Defeat in Russia was a sporting disaster after such a good start to the campaign and the Dragons were their own worst enemy, producing a textbook nightmare away performance.

Their error count was sky high in glorious conditions and they gifted a powerful Enisei easy points to join Brive, Newcastle and Worcester on the Russians’ wall of conquests.

The Dragons played it smart to lead 18-17 on the hour but unlike last week, when they put the foot down in the final quarter, this time they imploded.

Poor restart work led to a try in the first half and the visitors didn’t learn their lesson, another shocking score conceded straight after getting in front to give Enisei a second wind.

The Russians are a strong side – much better than the Bucharest Wolves side the Dragons beat two years ago – but such a loss will lead to question marks over the decision to ring the changes from the Brive encounter.

However, head coach Kingsley Jones will point out that he brought in players of experience for the trip, with the likes of captain Nick Crosswell, Nic Cudd, Pat Howard, Jack Dixon and Phil Price recalled.

The Dragons side had enough quality to get the job done but failed to produce the goods against opponents who boasted a wealth of international experience with 10 Russian Bears in their XV to go along with a pair of Georgians, a Moldovan, Ukrainian and Latvian skipper Uldis Saulite.

There was a signal of intent right from the off when a thunderous hit ensured the kick-off was spilt and the Dragons made a sluggish start with loose kicking out of hand and from the tee, with fly-half Angus O’Brien missing a sixth minute shot at goal.

The visitors suffered an early blow when scrum-half Charlie Davies was forced off with Tavis Knoyle coming on to make his debut but Enisei’s handling was preventing them from making the most of the breeze at their backs.

The Dragons enjoyed a first sniff when they slickly put wing Pat Howard running down the right but the ball was turned over inside the 22 and instead it was the Russians that opened the scoring when a penalty at the scrum, which had until then been going the way of the Rodney Parade side, allowed prolific Bears fly-half Yuri Kushnarev to kick three points.

Thankfully that stirred the visitors into action and they were over for the first try in the 19th minute when Howard came off his wing to receive lineout ball before a mixture of the South African’s power and some weak tackling saw him burst over for a score that O’Brien improved.

Hopes of that leading to a period of Dragons dominance were swiftly dashed when monstrous home tighthead Innokentiy Zykov burst through and, after two penalties were kicked to the corner, centre Dimitri Gerasimov powered over for a try that Kushnarev converted for a 10-7.

Suddenly the scores were coming thick and fast with some lovely handling by Angus O’Brien and Adam Warren at the end of a good move put centre Sam Beard over for a his first Dragons try.

However, the good work was swiftly undone when the restart was misjudged and, after being held up over the line, the hosts barged their way over for a converted try from hooker Stanislav Selskii that put them 17-12 up.

The Dragons should have reduced that deficit before the break but turned down a simple shot at goal to go for the corner only for the Russians to stand firm.

It certainly wasn’t panic stations but the visitors’ error count needed to come down, as with patience they would crack their hosts’ defence.

However, they wasted a pair of good opportunities to strike in the opening exchanges of the second half when two close-range lineouts were spoiled by the Russians.

They kept the pressure on with captain Crosswell this time instructing O’Brien to go for the posts in the 54th minute, his fly-half obliging to cut the gap to 17-15.

The tactics were spot-on – the game was all being played in Enisei territory and the hosts were being made to work incredibly hard in defence.

O’Brien was given another crack at goal on the hour after a breakdown offence and he made no mistake but the Dragons promptly shot themselves in the foot with another try sparked by poor restart work.

The Russians reclaimed the ball and piled on the pressure for Selskii to hammer over again, Kushnarev’s excellent conversion putting them 24-18 in front.

It got worse with the buoyant hosts suddenly winning the collisions and enjoying more possession and it was almost inevitable that their fourth try would come, Gerasimov crossing down the right after the forwards had piled on the pressure.

Kushnarev’s accurate kicking made it 31-18 with six minutes left for the Dragons to rally for a consolation bonus point, let alone victory.

Instead it was the hosts who had the final say with another close-range score, this time from Valery Morozov.

The touchline conversion was a fitting end to a perfect afternoon for Enisei while the Dragons face a long and tortuous return home.

Enisei: R Gaisin, I Kurashov, D Kacharava, D Gerasimov, D Simplikevich, I Kushnarev, A Shcherban, A Polivalov (V Morozov 75), S Selskii (S Magomedov 71), I Zykov (E Pronenko 79), U Saulite (captain), M Gargalic (V Krasylnyk 59), M Gachechiladze, V Orlov (T Ghadgiev 65), A Rudoi. 
Scorers: tries – D Gerasimov (2), S Selskii (2), V Morozov; conversions – I Kushnarev (5); penalty – I Kushnarev

Dragons: C Meyer (GR Jones), P Howard, S Beard, J Dixon (A Hewitt 69), A Warren, A O’Brien, C Davies (T Knoyle 12), P Price (T Davies 54), R Buckley, L Fairbrother (C Mitchell 54), N Crosswell (captain), R Landman (M Screech 59), J Thomas (C Hill 51), N Cudd, H Keddie.
Scorers: tries – P Howard, S Beard; conversion – A O'Brien; penalties – A O'Brien (2)

Referee: Vlad Iordachescu (Romania)