KINGSLEY Jones has challenged his Newport Gwent Dragons players to chase down Cardiff Blues in the Guinness PRO12 after Brive knocked them out of Europe, writes Chris Kirwan.

The Dragons were downed 36-19 at the Stade Amedee-Domenech with the French side securing Pool Three top spot and a place in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

Tries by Tavis Knoyle and Sarel Pretorius (2) made it 22-19 on the hour to gave hope of a stunning away success only for Brive to power clear in the closing stages thanks to their formidable pack.

It means for the first time in three seasons the Dragons have no knockout European rugby to look forward to and the battle in their PRO12 'mini league' is now their prime focus.

They currently sit in ninth, a point above Edinburgh, two back on champions Connacht and eight behind their fiercest Welsh rivals.

"We are not that far away from the Blues," said Jones. "It's a tough challenge but our home form has been good and if that continues we will move up the table a little with a few away wins.

"Connacht and Edinburgh are both good sides but are within our reach and we'll keep working hard in the league because we want to prove that we are on the right road.

"We want to improve on the last couple of seasons. Well, the last 10 seasons really."

The Dragons were chasing a first away win of the season at Brive, who have only lost to Clermont Auvergne on home soil in 2016/17.

They trailed just 22-19 on the hour but in the end were left to lament a sloppy start that saw their hosts romp to a 15-0 lead after 15 minutes.

"At 60 minutes I thought we were going to win with a bonus point and keep them out," said Jones.

"But we need to look at ourselves for that first five minutes, to let them get to the corner and let in a soft try like that was very disappointing.

"Our defence generally was okay but their driving maul and the scrum was a challenge. There was a lot of good effort but too many individual errors.

"There is lots of good in our game and we are on the right path but it's a disappointing day because we were in the game on 60 minutes against a good side."

The Dragons are in Anglo-Welsh Cup action next when they host Newcastle at Rodney Parade on Sunday.