MONTPELLIER’S World Cup-winning coach Jake White “can’t believe” Newport Gwent Dragons are just two places off the bottom of the Guinness Pro12 given their performances in Europe this season.

White, who lifted the Webb Ellis Cup with the Springboks in 2007, had nothing but good things to say about the Rodney Parade outfit following his side’s 22-12 Challenge Cup semi-final victory over the Welsh region last weekend.

The 52-year-old was full of praise for the Dragons’ defensive effort at the Altrad Stadium, especially in the first half, when he felt Montpellier produced “probably the best rugby we’ve ever played”.

He also reckons that Kingsley Jones’ men could be a top-six team in the Pro12 if they found a way of turning narrow defeats into wins.

When asked if he was surprised by the Dragons’ league position given their form in European competition this term, White said: “I am surprised. Again, I’m not sure what the reasons are, but they are not a 10th out of 12 teams in the Pro12.

“I can’t believe that they can be 10th, but I must say that I’ve looked at their stats and I think they’ve got 10 losing bonus points, which means they are always in the game until the death.

“The challenge they have is how do they turn those 10 losses into say five wins and five losses?

“If they do that then all of a sudden they are in the middle of the table, if not in the top six.”

While White’s Montpellier will now face three-times winners Harlequins in the Challenge Cup final next month, the Dragons look to finish their domestic campaign on a high.

Commenting on the Dragons’ performance at the weekend, White added: “I can’t speak about them highly enough.

“For the first 35 minutes there was one team in that fixture, but they were just scrambling and scrambling and scrambling.

“One of the things I’ve always said is that you can measure the healthiness of a team by the way they cover for each other.

“If you look at the way they covered for each other in that first 35 minutes, and even longer, but for me significantly in the first 35, they were getting blown away.

“The irony was that it was 3-0, so I think, as I said to Kingsley after the game, it’s incredible to watch players play for each other.

“It’s very difficult to break them down and if two of those guys had stopped chasing we would have scored five tries in those first 30 minutes.”