BOSS Bernard Jackman admitted the Dragons rode their luck by playing into Southern Kings’ hands but hopes their nervy win can spark brighter times at Rodney Parade.

The region triumphed 27-22 in Newport thanks to tries by openside Ollie Griffiths, flanker Aaron Wainwright and fly-half Josh Lewis.

The Dragons raced into a 17-0 lead but saw the South Africans, who have only ever won one game, draw level on the hour.

It took a fortunate try for Lewis from a box kick to secure the spoils and end an 11-month wait for a league success, although then there was time for the Kings to score their fourth try to leave with a pair of bonuses.

“I am frustrated that we didn’t kick on at 17-0 but we spoke last week about how we are trying to get some timing together,” said Jackman.

“We just got a bit loose and didn’t put the foot down, accelerate and put the game out of their reach.

“They got their gander up and we got a bit nervous. That played into their hands, but we just needed to win by hook or by crook to settle everybody down.”

“Our physicality was exceptional, we were making big hits but we got a bit narrow and they are probably the team in the competition who will attack that space on the outside better than anyone else,” he continued.

“There is lots to work on but we just needed to get that win to get started.”

Wales and Lions number eight Ross Moriarty played the full game on his debut after his summer move from Gloucester and earned Jackman’s praise.

“Moriarty was excellent for 80 minutes and our back row in general has the potential to be really good, they just need time playing together,” said the former Ireland hooker.

“He said that he felt sluggish so I am looking forward to seeing him when he is feeling better because I thought that when we needed him, he gave us that go-forward.

“The Ospreys had a great win last week and their marquee signing George North played a big role in that. Ross didn’t score today but had that influence for us all week.

“The boys feel better with him in the group because he doesn’t talk any nonsense and is a man of action.”

The Dragons now travel to face champions Leinster on Saturday with Jackman pledging to keep changes to a minimum at the Royal Dublin Society.

“There is no point making a load of changes if you feel that the team cohesion isn’t good,” said the head coach.

“It makes sense to keep that group together, we will try and keep as settled a team as possible for this block of six games and build that understanding. We want pick up as many points as we can while gelling as a squad.

“We have nothing to lose, we haven’t won away for a long time and want to get that monkey off our back this season but I don’t think there is any pressure on us.

“We can go and concentrate on picking a couple of elements of the game that we want to improve, which will be our defence of the lineout maul, making sure we get our kick chase right and making sure we defend space better.

“If we fix those three then we are one step further ahead for Zebre.”