OF all the places for Newport Gwent Dragons to have a set piece struggle, Welford Road wouldn’t be anywhere near the top of the list.

Leicester put the squeeze on the Dragons up front to emerge with a 42-3 victory from the Anglo-Welsh Cup clash with their bonus point in the bag before half-time.

It was a hammering and the only Welshmen with smiles on faces at full-time were former Scarlets fly-half Owen Williams and ex-Llandovery centre Jack Roberts, who both got on the scoresheet, and former Cardiff Blues number eight Luke Hamilton.

The Rodney Parade side were rather predictably outmuscled by a strong Tigers team preparing for the return of league action against Harlequins; they may be trying to play more expansive rugby in the East Midlands but they remain a side that prides itself on the nuts and bolts of the game.

For Wales versus Australia, read Newport Gwent Dragons at Leicester. Starved of possession or any quick ball and on the receiving end of a sky-high penalty count, it is hard to read too much into the encounter.

It was a chastening afternoon for the visitors but on the plus side there were debuts for tighthead Leon Brown, Bedwas lock/back row Robson Blake, flanker Josh Skinner, fly-half Arwel Robson and full-back Will Talbot-Davies.

Blindside flanker James Thomas put in a big shift, both in defence and when carrying, while the young duo of Harri Keddie and Brown, the 20-year-olds who have been training with the Wales squad this autumn, looked pretty good.

It was always going to be a tough task at Welford Road but the coaching team – Shaun Connor and Ceri Jones are taking the lead in this tournament – will be looking for a better performance against the Scarlets on Friday ahead of Guinness Pro12 return against Edinburgh.

The Dragons headed into the fixture on the back of an excellent league victory against champions Connacht but were always going to be up against it in their bid for back-to-back wins for the first time since last December’s Euro double of Pau.

They had taken the opportunity to give a breather to a core of experienced first-teamers while the Tigers gave game time to several key figures ahead of their return to Aviva Premiership action next Sunday.

Welshman Williams was picked as a playmaker at inside centre and they were priced by the bookies as red-hot favourites given that their XV featured the likes of former Argentina prop Marcos Ayerza, ex-Lions flanker Tom Croft, England fly-half Freddie Burns and Australian speedster Peter Betham.

The Dragons fielded a side that featured plenty of players with a point to prove – only lock Joe Davies had not played regional rugby this season – but a youthful bench.

In the end their six debutants came on with the game over after the Tigers turned around for the second half with a 27-3 lead.

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Leicester started as they would continue by giving the Dragons a stern examination at the set piece in the opening stages and opened the scoring through the right boot of England fly-half Freddie Burns in the 11th minute.

The visitors were showing plenty of snap in defence – as they had in the second half against Connacht – but needed a foothold.

Yet it was from their first piece of attacking play that the Tigers struck with turnover ball run back for ex-Scarlets fly-half Owen Williams, picked as a playmaker at 12, to be put over down the right by wing Adam Thompstone.

Burns added the extras for a 10-0 lead before fly-half Geraint Rhys Jones responded with an excellent strike of his own, after a rare scrum that went their way, to cut the gap to seven points entering the second quarter.

The set piece was continuing to be the Dragons downfall and English sides are ruthless when they scent blood in the tight.

Try number two came from an infuriating error – full-back Carl Meyer kicking the ball straight out after a quick lineout was thrown onto his 22.

The drive was well defended by the pack but a midfield misread allowed the hosts to put the ball right for Thompstone to cross.

The third came after yet more scrum pressure – tighthead Craig Mitchell would be replaced by Leon Brown before the break – that enabled the Tigers to get into the 22 before prop Greg Bateman barrelled over.

Rather like in Wales against the Wallabies, one side was operating without any possession or territory and the Dragons weren’t helping themselves with some daft decisions, two of which led to the bonus point score before their half-time oranges.

Rhys Jones went for an ill-advised dink over the top and it was returned with interest towards the try line, where scrum-half Tavis Knoyle dithered and allowed Burns to slide over.

At 27-3 the game was gone but the Dragons had to show some tenacity against a Tigers 23 whose strength was shown by loosehead Ellis Genge, a member of England’s autumn squad, replacing Pumas legend Ayerza at the break.

The trend continued with Leicester putting the squeeze on through their lineout drive early in the second half only to, rather bizarrely, settle for three more points through Burns.

The game had lost its flow but the Dragons were given a chance by a yellow card for home lock Harry Wells for a shoulder charge in a maul.

The 10 minutes flew by without incident… and the same could be said for much of the second half until Brown was sin-binned for scrummaging offences with 11 minutes left.

The Tigers promptly shoved the seven-man Dragons pack over from a driving lineout for prop Genge to get on the scoresheet and the hosts had the final say when Roberts dashed through some weak tackling.

Leicester: G Worth, A Thompstone, J Roberts, O Williams (M Tait 40), P Betham, F Burns (O Bryant 69), S Harrison (captain, J Kitto 61), M Ayerza (E Genge 40), H Thacker (G McGuigan 49), G Bateman (P Cilliers 49), H Wells, G Kitchener (E Slater 58), T Croft, W Evans (B O’Connor 58), L Hamilton.

Scorers: tries – O Williams, A Thompstone, G Bateman, F Burns, O Genge, J Roberts; conversions – F Burns (2), G Worth; penalties – F Burns (2)

Dragons: C Meyer, T Prydie (W Talbot Davies 40), A Warren, J Dixon (captain), A Hewitt, GR Jones (A Robson 51), T Knoyle, P Price (S Hobbs 47), D Harris (E Dee 47), C Mitchell (L Brown 34), J Davies (R Blake 58), M Screech, J Thomas (J Skinner 67), N Cudd (C Mitchell 69), H Keddie.

Scorer: penalty – GR Jones Yellow card: L Brown

Referee: Andrew Jackson (RFU)

Attendance: 18,750 (tickets sold)

Argus star man: James Thomas