LYN Jones believes the Guinness Pro12 will continue to lag behind the Aviva Premiership until it brings in television footage to decide big calls in all games after Newport Gwent Dragons were hit by a controversial decision in their season opener.

The region were downed 16-11 by Connacht at the Sportsground on Saturday but they were left to rue a key decision on the brink of half-time.

Andrew Coombs thought that he had scored a try that would have put them in the lead only for it to be chalked off for a knock-on, leaving the scores level at 8-8.

The Dragons management team saw almost immediately on their laptops in the Grandstand that it was a legitimate try – the ball had been juggled in the build-up but went backwards.

However, the game was not televised and Italian referee Marius Mitrea made the call on the advice of his touch judge, who came from the host country as is the case in all Pro12 games.

In contrast, the Aviva Premiership enables officials to 'go upstairs' in every game, even if it is not being broadcast live.

"I think it's important for the credibility of the league that the TMOs (television match official) are constant in matches," said director of rugby Jones, who coached London Welsh in the Premiership in 2011/12.

"We scored a perfectly good try which was disallowed and that was the difference in the game, while several decisions were coming in from one touch judge throughout.

"There's no TMO, there are no neutral touch judges and it just makes for a lottery. Until we can get that the Pro12 will continue to play second fiddle to the Aviva Premiership"

Nonetheless, Jones conceded that his side did not deserve to get off to a winning start after an error-strewn display.

Yellow cards to full-back Lee Byrne and centre Tyler Morgan in the second half proved to be costly, enabling Connacht to take command before a late Jason Tovey penalty salvaged a bonus point.

"It was a game that was well within our reach but we didn't play very well," said Jones. "We are disappointed with the performance more than the result.

"We knew it would be a tight affair, it always is in Galway, and if you are going to win out here you have to be as accurate as you can, put pressure on Connacht and hopefully win by a score.

"They played better than us and deserved their victory but at the end of the season we will probably be happy with a bonus point.

"Now we've got a six-day turnaround for the Ospreys (at Rodney Parade on Friday) and there was a determination in the changing room to be better."