THE Dragons suffered agony in their bid for the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup after a remarkable last round of action.

The Rodney Parade region sneaked past Bordeaux-Begles into second place in Pool One after thrashing the French side 33-17 at Rodney Parade.

Tries by hooker Elliot Dee, lock Cory Hill, right wing Ashton Hewitt, tighthead Lloyd Fairbrother and replacement left wing Pat Howard earned a bonus-point win that saw them finish as runners-up behind Newcastle.

That meant they were looking for two of three results in France to go their way.

The first one did with Sale failing to beat Toulouse with a bonus point. The Sharks went down 28-21 at the Stade Ernest Wallon.

That left them waiting for the evening kick-offs between Stade Francais and Edinburgh in Paris and Brive versus Worcester in a match rearranged for Tulle after torrential rain forced an afternoon postponement at the Stade Amedee-Domenech.

Sadly, Brive conquered the heavy conditions to run in five tries in a 33-7 win.

That left the Dragons needing a young Edinburgh side to cause an upset at Stade Jean Bouin but the Parisians triumphed 17-10.