NEWPORT Gwent Dragons were unable to repeat their Dublin heroics of last season after being given a 37-13 Guinness Pro12 hammering by Leinster.

The Rodney Parade side were comprehensively outplayed on a crisp afternoon in the Irish capital, making it two frustrating displays on the spin.

However, unlike the 13-0 win against Zebre on September 11 when the attack spluttered, this time the Dragons were left to lament some lacklustre defence that enable Leinster to record a bonus point victory.

The Dragons headed to Dublin aiming to repeat February’s shock 16-14 win, their first in the Irish capital at the 12th attempt. Trip number 13 didn’t prove to be lucky.

Leinster, who also lost at Rodney Parade last term, were without 16 Ireland players and Springbok Zane Kirchner but they still proved to be far too strong.

They won the collisions thanks to the powerful running of flanker Josh van der Flier and centre Ben Te’o and combined that with some classy moments thanks to centre Noel Reid and the ageless Fiji full-back Isa Nacewa.

Dragons head coach Kingsley Jones had warned that their double would have wounded Leinster and so it proved. There was no complacency from the men in blue.

The Dragons were on the whole solid at the set piece and for an hour hung on in there, with captain Rynard Landman to the fore, but their kicking game and ball retention was poor while their defence was passive.

A big improvement will be needed when they travel to champions Glasgow in a fortnight’s time.

Leinster led 6-3 after a cagey first quarter containing very few openings, wing Fergus McFadden banging over a pair of penalties to one by Dragons fly-half Jason Tovey.

But the Dragons were in front when, unlike Chris Robshaw at Twickenham last weekend, captain Rynard Landman’s decision to go to the corner paid off.

Hugh Gustafson found his man and although the hosts defended the drive superbly, the Dragons hammered away at the line before scrum-half Sarel Pretorius sniped over.

Tovey converted to make it 10-6 but the lead didn’t last long.

A Dragons knock-on from a lineout inside their 22 allowed Josh van der Flier to charge through a gaping hole in midfield before quickly recycled ball allowed centre Noel Reid to put full-back Isa Nacewa over down the right with a peach of a pass.

And the Fijian went over for his second to make it 20-10 just before the break, once again making the Dragons pay for sloppiness.

A quick tap just outside the Leinster 22 caught the visitors napping and saw powerhouse centre Ben Te’o go on the rampage before releasing Reid, who chipped through. Wing Tom Prydie was first to the ball but couldn’t gather it and Nacewa flopped on the ball over the line before adding the extras himself.

The Dragons needed to strike first after the resumption but it took some last-gasp defending to prevent the killer blow from being applied.

More poor defence allowed wing Garry Ringrose to burst through from a lineout on halfway but he had the ball dislodged five metres out by opposite number Ashton Hewitt, who recovered well after being turned a little too easily.

McFadden and Tovey traded penalties to make it 23-13 entering the final quarter but then the Dragons shipped two more soft tries in two minutes.

Leinster had been putting the squeeze on with a series of five-metre scrums when the ball came loose but Pretorius mystifyingly tried to offload the ball to full-back Carl Meyer rather than falling on it. He made a mess of it and the gifted possession allowed Ringrose to go over unchallenged.

Then straight from the restart replacement flanker Daniel Leavy and Te’o were given the freedom of the RDS before fly-half Cathal Marsh went over.

The extras made it 37-13 and the game meandered to its conclusion.

Leinster: I Nacewa (captain), F McFadden (C Kelleher 34-37), B Te'o, N Reid (R Byrne 68), G Ringrose, C Marsh, I Boss (L McGrath 60), M Bent (P Dooley 51), A Dundon (J Tracy 60), M Moore (J Hagan 23), R Molony, M McCarthy (T Beirne 69), D Ryan (D Leavy 62), J van der Flier, R Ruddock.

Scorers: tries – I Nacewa (2), G Ringrose, C Marsh; conversions – F McFadden (3), I Nacewa; penalties – F McFadden (3)

Dragons: C Meyer, A Hewitt, R Wardle (A Brew 40), A Warren, T Prydie (A O’Brien 48), J Tovey, S Pretorius (L Jones 67), B Stankovich (P Price 53-62, 67), H Gustafson (E Dee 53), B Harris (S Knight 62), N Crosswell, R Landman (captain), J Thomas (M Screech 40), J Benjamin (N Cudd 53), E Jackson.

Scorers: try – S Pretorius; conversion – J Tovey; penalties – J Tovey (2)

Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)