OLLIE Griffiths admits the Dragons have to "learn fast" how to stop an Irish juggernaut ahead of Sunday's Guinness PRO14 clash with Munster.

Dean Ryan's men play their third province of the season when they welcome the Munstermen to Rodney Parade (kick-off 2pm).

The Dragons were outclassed by champions Leinster on opening weekend and then, after getting the campaign up and running with a home bonus point win against Zebre, were smashed by 40-17 Ulster in Belfast.

Unable to live with their hosts' power, the region shipped five tries in the first half to trail 35-3 at the break, with tries by Ashton Hewitt and Jamie Roberts little consolation.

Director of rugby Ryan admitted his team were "outgunned" and Griffiths, who left Ravenhill with his reputation intact after a superb personal display, echoed his boss' words.

South Wales Argus:

"Before Ulster we spoke about getting double tackles in and we were winning some collisions, but not necessarily slowing the ball down," said the number eight.

"We will take a look at that and it is something we didn't do well enough. We did it in patches but certainly not consistently enough.

"We need to be consistent throughout the 80 minutes - not just for 20 minutes.

"We need to learn and we need to learn fast. Munster will be the same and will bring the same sort of threats – driving lineout, big powerful ball carriers off nine – so we need to sort that out, especially being home at Rodney Parade."

Griffiths' display was all the more admirable given that it was his first appearance since March after a post-lockdown hamstring injury.

The 25-year-old played the full 80 minutes and led the way for the Dragons with 23 tackles, four turnovers, six carries and four offloads.

South Wales Argus:

"From an individual point of view, it's nice to be back and get a full game under my belt. But obviously I'm disappointed with the performance," he said.

"The final score is a pretty significant loss and the things we said we were going to do, we didn't necessarily do.

"It is disappointing from that point of view, but it is nice to be back at the same time from an individual perspective.

"It has been a while since I played, but I never really struggle coming back after a long time out.

"We have some great physios who work with us, Ben Stirling has been great with me, so it is not as if I am going into games cold or struggling for match fitness.

"I have done a lot of work last couple of months, so I felt good out there."

Munster went three from three by beating Cardiff Blues in Limerick on Monday evening.

They started the season with victory at the Scarlets then edged out Edinburgh.