UBB 47-8 Dragons: Matthieu Jalibert puts the boot into illness-hit Dragons

Add to that two more injuries in their back line before the 50 minute mark and it was another miserable evening for Dean Ryan's men as they slumped to their 12th successive defeat in the tournament in Bordeaux.

Coming on top of their 24-8 home defeat in the opening round at home against Wasps it means the Welsh region are now unlikely to progress, while Bordeaux are well-placed to advance after making it back-to-back wins after their triumph in Northampton last weekend.

They got off to a fortunate start when English referee Christophe Ridley determined that scrum half Maxime Lucu hadn't knocked-on from a quick tap penalty. The Dragons, along with the match commentators, were convinced there was a nudge forward from a finger, but no offence was blown.

Two passes later and skipper and back row man Mahamadou Diaby was over in the left corner to notch the opening points of the game in the seventh minute.

Mathieu Jalibert converted superbly off the touch line and the home side were up and running.

The Dragons had lost their skipper for the night, Sam Davies, before kick-off when he was withdrawn due to injury.

That forced Josh Lewis to move from full back into the No.10 jersey and Will Talbot-Davies came off the bench to play at the back.

To their credit, the visitors didn't crumble after conceding and Lewis kicked a penalty to cut the gap in the 11th minute.

But while the opening quarter went well for them, they conceded two more tries before the break to change ends 19-3 down.

Argentinean international wing Santiago Cordero was worked over in the right corner after two scrums five metres out and then in the last play of the half hooker Maxime Lamothe went over in the left corner from a front of the line peel that Jalibert improved with another great kick.

The home side got a dream start to the second half when Cordero raced in for his second try within 16 seconds of the re-start.

To add to the woes of the Welsh region, they were forced to bring on Evan Lloyd to take over from Lewis at outside half and his kick-off was tapped back into play on the left touchline by Rio Dyer.

As the ball bounced infield the outstanding Cameron Woki snapped it up, raced up to the 22 and then passed inside to the supporting Cordero.

Jalibert added the extras and then converted a try of his own three minutes later to stretch the lead to 30 points.

Cordero's hat-trick, the first in the competition by a Bordeaux-Begles player, came in the 61st minute after Jalibert made the initial break. The Dragons grabbed a consolation try through Nick Tompkins, but Ben Lam notched a seventh for the home side to wrap things up.

ROB COLE