COACH Nick Wakley says the manner in which Newport Gwent Dragons lost their Singha Premiership 7s crown was a bitter pill to swallow.

The Dragons looked set to head to Coventry's Ricoh Arena to defend the title that they won at Twickenham Stoop in 2015 when they led Cardiff Blues 22-17 as the hooter sounded on Friday night.

They had rallied from being down to five men after a pair of controversial yellow cards for Ethan Davies (denying a quick lineout) and Jonny Lewis (high tackle) to inch in front through a superb try by Ebbw Vale speedster Chris Levesley.

But the hosts snatched the victory – and the Welsh title – when Dane Blacker raced over with the Dragons management fuming about player of the tournament Lloyd Lewis being taken out off the ball.

"We did enough to win that game and the yellow cards were extremely soft and I can't even talk about the last decision," said Wakley.

"The boys had to bring out a big last push because the two back-to-back games really took it out of us a lot and we lost Ross (Wardle to injury in the opening game). They really dug deep for each other and it's a frustrating one, but that's sevens."

Wakley has also called the scheduling into question because the Dragons and Scarlets have had to play back-to-back games in every Welsh leg since the regions joined the tournament in 2014 while Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys have never endured such a challenge.

The Dragons thrashed the Scarlets 26-12 in their opening game but were sluggish when beaten 21-19 by the Ospreys, who qualified for Coventry along with the Blues, after a very short break.

"In all three tournaments we've been back-to-back while Cardiff Blues and Ospreys get a game then a break," said Wakley.

"You can't do that to professional athletes and you would never dream of asking an international side to play a game five minutes after finishing another one.

"The boys were in bits (in the Ospreys game) and you've got to rest certain players because you are thinking of the next game, that's not how you should coach sevens."

Lewis, who played for Wales on the HSBC Sevens World Series circuit last season, caught the eye to win player of the tournament but was disappointed to miss out on the big prize of finals day.

"It's mixed emotions for me; we're on a bit of a downer from not being able to qualify but all the team put in a real performance," he said afterwards.

"All 11 of the other Dragons deserved the award, it's a great honour to receive it and to have that recognition from the Singha 7s, but for me this is on behalf of everyone's hard work.

"The mentality of the boys was fantastic, we've been before (to finals day) and we know how great it was to be there, so it's very disappointing not to be going back.

"It was a tough way to miss out, but that's what sevens is all about, it's unfortunate the bounce of the ball hasn't gone in our favour but it makes us more determined to come back next year and give it our all again."

The Blues and Ospreys will take on six English rivals at Wasps' Ricoh Arena on Sunday, August 7.