THE BEASTIE Boys boomed out as the meagre 3,156 crowd filed out of Murrayfield on Saturday afternoon, telling us that "You gotta fight, for the right, to party". Sadly those that are going up against Newport Gwent Dragons at the moment don't have to battle too hard to earn their celebrations.

A shocking first block of Guinness Pro12 fixtures ended with Edinburgh, a poor side that will finish in the bottom half, easing to a comfortable 24-10 win.

It means that the Dragons have collected just 18 league points from a possible 85 in 2014 with just three wins from 17 games.

At the moment it is painful viewing.

You cannot point the finger at the Dragons for a poor attitude or lack of effort but they look devoid of confidence, low on ideas, hesitant in attack and lacking in shape and structure.

There is no joy or excitement to their play, there is no snarl or aggression in attack while the error count is high and their kicking is dreadful. Frustrating defeats have turned into embarrassing ones.

Midfield injuries, with their last fit centre Ashley Smith forced off in the first half following a blow to the head, have undoubtedly been a hindrance but they should be performing a lot, lot better with those that have been taking to the field.

The Dragons are currently one of the worst pro teams in Europe – perhaps with just London Welsh and the Italians beneath them – and frankly it was a lot easier to stomach defeat when able to just blame a poor scrum and fragile lineout defence.

So where do they go from here?

The literal answer is Paris to face a Stade Francais side that are flying high in the Top 14 and are fresh from maintaining their perfect home record with victory against city rivals Racing Metro.

Things may just get worse before they get better and, although it won't please those baying for blood, all the Dragons can do is keep on keeping on.

Jake White isn't going to take the reins and Ma'a Nonu isn't going to bolster midfield.

The only people that can get them out of this pickle are those that are currently on the region's books and they have it in them to be a lot better than they are currently showing.

The next three fixtures see them going up against Stade and Ulster away either side of a Rodney Parade encounter with Newcastle.

Rugby is a results business but the Dragons are in dire need of a good performance to at least give the players some belief and the rest of us some hope.

They are currently a shambles and openside Nic Cudd is collecting plenty of IOUs from his teammates with his defensive heroics.

If a handful of his colleagues can hit his standards then the Dragons stand a chance but at the moment they are struggling badly.

The first half in Edinburgh was a shocker and it looked like they could head to the break without troubling the scoreboard operator.

The Dragons didn't threaten the Edinburgh line one but their aimless kicking game almost cost them dearly twice when the hosts ran the ball back.

First wing Tim Visser dropped the ball over the line and then it took a stupendous covering tackle by flanker Nic Cudd to deny opposite number Hamish Watson, who was held up over the whitewash.

Home fly-half Tom Heathcote banged over a pair of penalties on 34 and 37 minutes and the Scots were good value for their 6-0 lead.

The Dragons were hopeful of a morale-boosting win when wing Matthew Pewtner finished strongly with the 11th phase of a patient attack after Lee Byrne cut a nice line and lock Andrew Coombs showed soft hands.

Jason Tovey converted but Edinburgh had the game secured before the hour thanks to another Heathcote and tries by wings Tim Visser and Dougie Fife, the former after a calamitous attempted right-footed clearance by Hallam Amos that showed he certainly isn't ambidextrous and the latter a simple finish down the right after the Dragons line was battered.

From then on there was very little doubt that the meagre 3,156 crowd would be watching a home win. The odds will be short on that being the case at the Stade Jean Bouin on Saturday.

Edinburgh: G Tonks, D Fife, S Beard, A Strauss, T Visser (J Cuthbert 77), T Heathcote, S Kennedy (S Hidalgo-Clyne 69), A Dickinson, R Ford, J Andress (WP Nel 40), A Bresler, G Gilchrist, M Coman (captain), H Watson, C Du Preez (T Leonardi 26, WP Nel 30-40).

Scorers: tries – Visser, Fife; conversion – T Heathcote; penalties – T Heathcote (4)

Dragons: L Byrne (captain), M Pewtner, T Prydie, A Smith (A O'Brien 26), H Amos, J Tovey (A Brew 56), J Evans (R Rees 64), B Stankovich (L Fairbrother 70), E Dee (R Thomas 56), D Way, A Coombs, R Landman (J Thomas 40), L Evans, N Cudd, A Powell (H Gustafson 30-40).

Scorers: tries – M Pewtner; conversions – J Tovey; penalty – A O'Brien

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Attendance: 3,156