"I was disappointed in the end," said Jackman, "but given the side they had out and where we have come from, even from last week, it was a massive reaction from the players showing a lot character. After going eight nil down the players didn’t drop their heads.
Our attack was better, our defense was better, we were much more aggressive and we engaged with them on the gainline. I thought Gavin and Dan Babos were superb.
"We had a good chat with Gav this week and I thought he brought the ball to the line so much better and made our whole attacking game so much more fluid, allowing our big ball carrying forwards to get on the front foot and be confrontational. That’s something we worked on this week and it paid off.
"The reality is we want to make this place a fortress and although we didn’t win, we didn’t lose.
"Since Leinster our first game we’ve been good and are a different team. Hopefully the fans are starting to get prouder of us as a team as I think when you play with that spirit and that heart they can attach to it and that’s a testament to how hard we are working.
"We would have liked to have closed that out tonight, and five points would have been a massive result for us. But we’re going to have to fight tooth and nail for every point. Three points tonight is a decent return for what was a difficult game since we were missing so many players."
BBC selected Ollie Griffiths as man of the match for his performance but Jackman had praise for his half back pairing as well as the openside.
"I thought Babos was really good for a 17 year old and I left him on for 80 minutes because he was doing such a good job," added Bernard.
"I don’t think Gavin had a choice but to play flat as Babos kept putting the ball in front of him so he had to run on to it. Tonight was a great experience for him and he has plenty of energy. Ollie was outstanding. He’s had a fractured season but he’s got that performance in him. He’s top class and he’s someone we want to build a team around.
"Gavin was great tonight. He showed even with kicking the conversion from the touchline, that doesn’t happen by accident, he practices pretty hard at it and I thought he was more confrontational and aggressive.
"Gavin is a great professional, on and off the field he has been a really good influence. He coaches a lot of the players and is the ultimate pro. Tonight he played a part in helping us get three points and nearly winning the game."
The Dragons are back in action again at Rodney Parade next Friday in their first home European Rugby Challenge Cup clash of the season against Russian side Enisei-STM. Tickets for the match are now available, with a saving of £5 on adult tickets purchased before midnight Thursday.
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