NEWPORT Gwent Dragons ended their long wait for a Guinness Pro12 victory but head coach Kingsley Jones has demanded a dramatic improvement after a woeful display against Zebre.

The Rodney Parade side won in the league for the first time since January but the mood was solemn after the final whistle despite breaking their 11-game losing streak.

They won 11-6, crossed for just one try through wing Pat Howard and failed to score in the second half against Zebre for the second season on the spin.

The Dragons huffed and puffed but failed to convince, leading to some jeers from disgruntled supporters at the final whistle.

“I went in the changing room afterwards and tried to be positive, because we won a game and it should give us some confidence for Munster next week,” said Jones.

“We had everything to lose and nothing to gain against Zebre, but we have to be a lot better than that.

“I am disappointed for the fans because I really wanted to start well and give them something to cheer for the 80 minutes.

“Now we go into a game against Munster when not many people will give us a chance and we just have to move on and look forward.

“I have to see the positives but there is no hiding away from that not being what we wanted and we have to be a lot better.”

Zebre were always going to be more competitive than they were on opening weekend when thrashed 59-5 by the Ospreys in Swansea.

But, just like in 2015 when the Parma side limited the damage to 13-0, Jones was infuriated by his team’s failure to make the most of openings that came their way.

“It was a carbon copy of last year’s game,” said Jones. “I am disappointed with many aspects.

“The intent to play was there and when you are trying something new (a more expansive approach) it’s going to take a little while but the obvious problem was that we failed to complete on positive stuff.

“We forced things and offloaded. We had talked all week about playing multi-phases and wearing them down but didn’t do it.

“Our set pieces have to be better – our lineout play was scrappy – but I believe that a week of drilling that and it will improve against Munster.

“Once you get to 60 minutes in a game like that you are in for an arm wrestle and a tough last 20 minutes.

“You have to give Zebre some credit, while they didn’t offer a lot, they defended well, but most of that came from our impatience.”

The Dragons will host a Munster side smarting from a 24-23 loss to Cardiff Blues at Musgrave Park in Cork.