DRAGONS scrum-half and captain Rhodri Williams says that his side had the chances to come away with a result against Munster.

With Dean Ryan absent, Dragons slumped to a 28-16 defeat at the hands of the Irish side.

However, Williams bemoaned his side's profligacy, noting the number of chances squandered in the opponent's 22.

"We asked for a reaction with the physicality and I think we brought that," he said.

"We also didn’t take our chances in their 22.

"Playing against a quality side like Munster, you’re going to get limited chances in their 22 and when we do have them, we need to take them."

It looked grim when Munster went 18-3 up in Newport but the hosts, after Sam Davies’ first try for the club, showed more fight than they had seven days earlier at Ulster.

However, Williams believes that the break helped the Dragons get their heads back into the game.

"Half time was a massive turning point for us," he said.

"We were confident going into half time.

"Again, we’ve just got to be more clinical.

"Obviously it was going to be tough but we had a few opportunities in their 22 and we’ve got to be more clinical."

Asked whether the depleted coaching team had had a negative effect on the side, Williams said that the opposite was true and that he was enjoying the chance of more responsibility.

"It’s been good, really good, it’s been a chance for senior players to step up," he said.

"The coaches do the work off the field, but then on the field it’s up to us to take over.

"We’ve got a good senior player group. Jamie (Roberts) and Ollie Griffin speaking up as well.

"It’s up to all of us to step up in these times."

Dragons now turn their attention to this weekend's clash with Connacht.

Williams says that this fixture presents its own challenges, but Dragons will draw on their performance against Munster.

"We’ll go back and look at it," he said.

"They don’t get any easier,” he said, looking ahead to the game against Connacht.

"We need to get our performances in order.

"We’ll do our homework on them and see any areas we can work on.

"We need to look back at this game first and put things right.

"We’ve got to respect Connacht’s options up front. You’ve got to match that, it’s one of the core areas of the game, that physicality."

He said that his side showed a "a big reaction" against Munster which they will hope to carry forward.

"Everyone knows Munster are going to come down here and challenge you. I thought we dealt with that quite well," he said.

"We’ve got to get those few elements in our game right."