NEWPORT Gwent Dragons suffered one of their worst defeats at Rodney Parade on Friday night when going down 54-22 to Leinster in the Guinness PRO12.

Here are some things to come out of a humiliating evening for Kingsley Jones and his men.

1. Result and performance simply unacceptable

There’s no other place to start than the scoreline and display from a Dragons side that were just not up to it.

From a battling performance in Galway one week to an eight-try rout at the hands of a Leinster side missing many of its top players the next.

This result was a new low for the current Dragons squad and coaching set-up, and one that is going to take some getting over.

2. Players not helping themselves

The region comes first for the players but many involved in the thrashing at Rodney Parade will not have done their hopes of a new deal in the summer any good at all.

The games that are left this season now take on extra significance for certain individuals if they want to be at the region next term.

They are likely to be under even greater scrutiny from this point until the end of the campaign and cannot afford to let things tail off one bit.

3. Fans right to have their say

Paying hard-earned money to watch what was served up would have been very tough for the Dragons fans to take.

Those who booed their team off at the final whistle will feel they were fully justified in doing so given the performance they had just witnessed.

There was effort on display but basic skills and application were missing and the Rodney Parade faithful know when they are being short changed.

4. Kingsley to carry on

You can’t ignore the fact that some, but by no means all, Dragons supporters have expressed on social media that it is time Kingsley Jones’ tenure as head coach came to an end.

The question was put to him after the game on Friday and he has no intention of walking away from the job.

He is a man of Gwent and remains focused on working hard to get the Dragons out of the rut they are in, but it must be difficult when there is so much criticism flying around.

5. Another blow for Hewitt

There was real hope before the game that winger Ashton Hewitt was going to be back for his first rugby since New Year’s Day.

However, the concussion he received in that 10-0 loss to the Ospreys is still affecting him and forced him to miss Friday night.

There are many things the Dragons need to improve on but having Hewitt, and Hallam Amos, return for the run-in would be a huge boost.