DRAGONS boss Ceri Jones didn't use a gulf in budget as an excuse for his side's European Challenge Cup hammering by Clermont Auvergne.

The Top 14 leaders cruised to a seven-try, 49-7 win at Rodney Parade on Friday night and had their bonus point in the bag before half an hour had been played in Newport.

Clermont had won Pool One before travelling to Wales and left their six-strong France contingent at home ahead of the Six Nations plus Scotland's Greig Laidlaw and a raft of other influential players.

However, Les Jaunards' spending power meant that they still fielded a star-studded side and their quality shone through in a one-sided affair.

The loss was their biggest ever home defeat in Europe and caretaker coach Jones didn't want to use a lack of spending power in mitigation.

"They have got a very big budget that is bigger than most clubs', but we are not using that as an excuse, we know that we need to be better than that," said Jones, who will hold the reins until at least the end of the season.

"They are team we aspire to work towards because they are quality and showed that, but we are under no illusions that we need to be better than we were. We weren't accurate enough, quite simply.

"Our lineout wasn't accurate enough, we went to the corner three or four times and came away with nothing, which you can't do against quality opposition.

"Defensively we slipped off first-up tackles too many times in the first half and once they got in behind us they were difficult to stop.

"It went from the kick-off when we didn't put it 10 metres, then we backed that up with an offside against Richard Hibbard that gave them an easy way in to the game right from the start.

"Our accuracy just wasn't where it needed to be against a quality opposition, so we were always going to struggle.

"It was a better performance in the second half and to show resilience until the end was good, but we are very disappointed with the performance and need to address that."

The Dragons have made strides since their December visit to Clermont, when they pushed the Frenchman hard at the Stade Marcel Michelin.

They then were denied a draw at Cardiff Blues at the death, ended their four-year derby drought against the Ospreys and battled at the Scarlets before hammering Timisoara Saracens.

The Clermont defeat was a first setback for Jones, who wants the top job permanently, and the former prop wants a response against Munster on the return to the Guinness PRO14 on Saturday.

"We have been proud of our performances over the last month or so but that wasn't where it needed to be. Clermont are a quality opposition but we needed to be better than that," said Jones.

"Our recent form and performance levels in the PRO14 has been decent. We are not just going to write off the Clermont game, we are going to look at it and pick the bones out of it.

"Yes, they had some powerful men but we can't slip off tackles like that. We need to address that quickly, we need to address our lineout, we need to be more accurate in everything that we do."

The Dragons are likely to be without Wales internationals Cory Hill, Elliot Dee, Aaron Wainwright and Hallam Amos for the Munster clash but they are waiting to see if back row forward Ross Moriarty and tighthead Leon Brown, who have been sidelined by concussion and a thumb injury respectively, are released for game time.

They are hopeful of centre Tyler Morgan, who missed out on the Six Nations squad to Scott Williams, being back from a knee issue, which could lead to Adam Warren moving to the wing.