Victory with a bonus point at Kingsholm on Saturday ought to have disposed Dean Ryan kindly to the EDF Energy Cup, but the Gloucester head coach will not be sad to see it revamped. His players sought cohesion and a confidence boost; they got a messy meeting of much-changed teams that left Andy Hazell, the flanker, “feeling like we've lost”.

That Gloucester were rescued by the broken-field running of Iain Balshaw only added to Ryan's frustration even if it showcased the quality of the full back who England discarded.

“Balsh was harshly done by [with England],” Ryan said. “If the game's a bit loose, there's no better full back. But we‘re trying to play with structure.

“These EDF [matches] are fraught. We're limping out of the Premiership and Heineken Cup and our injuries are horrific. When you run three tournaments alongside each other, something will give. You make changes and get fragmented teams, fragmented defences.”

Tries by Richard Fussell and Grant Webb owed much to porous midfield defence and a penalty goal by Shaun Connor, the fly half, gave Newport Gwent Dragons the lead early in the second half.

Connor had beaten Phil Taylor, the 13-times world champion, in a friendly game of darts on Thursday with the aid of a points handicap. Wayward goalkicking by Olly Barkley and errors in every facet of Gloucester's play offered the Dragons similar assistance but Balshaw set up Lesley Vainikolo's second try after 68 minutes then scored one himself.

“A win was there for us,” Paul Turner, the Dragons head coach, said. “I don't feel Gloucester won it; we lost it.”

Scorers: Gloucester: Tries: Vainikolo (18min, 68), S Lawson (38), Balshaw (72). Conversion: Barkley. Penalty goal: Barkley (80+4). Newport Gwent Dragons: Tries: Fussell (20), Webb (32), Tovey (80+7). Conversion: Connor. Penalty goal: Connor (46).

Scoring sequence (Gloucester first): 7-0, 7-5, 7-12, 12-12 (half-time), 12-15, 17-15, 22-15, 25-15, 25-20.

Gloucester: I Balshaw; M Foster, M Tindall, O Barkley, L Vainikolo; W Walker (rep: J Adams, 58), R Lawson (rep: D Lewis, 33); A Dickinson (rep: A Satala, 66; sin-bin, 75), S Lawson (rep: A Titterrell, 53), C Nieto (rep: J Forster, 41), A Eustace, M Bortolami, P Buxton, A Hazell, A Strokosch.

Newport Gwent Dragons: P Dollman; T Selley, R Gomer-Davies (rep: J Tovey, 23), A Smith, R Fussell; S Connor, W Evans (rep: T Isaacs, 63); A Black (sin-bin 63-75; rep: G Maule, 78), S Jones (rep: T Willis, 58), R Thomas, A Jones (rep: A Murphy, 63), A Hall, D Lydiate, R Parks (rep: J Ringer, 52), G Webb (rep: J Bearman, 58).

Referee: N Owens (Wales).

Attendance: 8,057.