Toulouse centre Clement Poitrenaud breaks away from the Dragons defence © Getty Images

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Match Pack: Toulouse on course for quarters

Matches: Toulouse 17 - 3 Dragons

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Teams: Dragons | Toulouse

Newport Gwent Dragons boss Paul Turner was proud of his players' efforts in Saturday's 17-3 defeat by Toulouse at the Stade Ernest Wallon.

The Welsh were outscored by three tries to nil in the south west of France and managed nothing more than a solitary penalty from Jason Tovey, but Turner was enthused by his side's display against the defending Heineken Cup champions.

"We probably deserved more than we got for that performance but we have taken a major step forward and done Wasps a massive favour," he said, alluding to the fact that the Dragons had denied Toulouse an bonus point.

"We can a lot of pride from what we're trying to achieve, albeit in defeat. We were disappointed not to show more in attack but in places like this, against one of the best teams in Europe, you have to defend well.

"We spoke before the game about the fear factor in rugby when you come places like Toulouse. If you're unlucky you can be on the wrong end of something bad so I'm really proud of the players' effort.

"It's the closest thing many of our players will get to Test rugby but we produced a really dogged performance. We gave them a good run for their money and made them panic at times. We made them look ordinary at times but they have the strength to being on the likes of Florian Fritz and Frederic Michalak off the bench.

"But we also needed to show more composure with the ball after working so hard to get our hands on it. You have to make the most of any chances that come your way and we bombed a couple of opportunities so we're disappointed not to get something out of the game."

Meanwhile, Toulouse captain Dusautoir, who scored two of his side's two tries, with Vincent Clerc bagging the other, admitted that they have much to work on ahead of next weekend's pivotal trip to Adams Park.

"We were happy to get the victory but not with the performance," the France international said. "We know there are plenty of things we must improve before we play Wasps. That will be a big game."