The Dragons’ dreadful winless sequence on the road in the Guinness PRO14 is believed to be the longest run of misery in professional rugby.
The Newport-based team fell to another reverse on their travels when they succumbed 38-13 to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
That followed an 18-18 draw against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth.
The two results on their African tour hoisted the Dragons’ succession of games without a win in the league to a mind-boggling 44.
But it is time they have spent searching for a PRO14 victory away from their home base that sets them apart for the wrong reasons.
Statistician for the PRO14, Stuart Farmer, said in response to a query about the Dragons on Twitter: “The run is currently 44 successive away games in the @PRO14Official without a win.
“The only longer sequence I can find in league rugby is the unwanted 56 consecutive winless games by Dax in France’s 2nd division PRO-D2 between Feb 2012 and December 2015.
“Only 3 years, though.”
Last month, the prolonged Project Reset process had arrived at a situation where the Ospreys and Scarlets were on the brink of merging, while the Welsh Rugby Union-owned Dragons seemingly remained untouched by such matters.
Yet the awful on-pitch results of the Rodney Parade region keep coming.
They are bottom of Conference B and are approaching four years and one month since their last away success in the league, a 32-17 triumph in Treviso.
Ceri Jones’ team were leading 13-10 against the Cheetahs, only to concede four tries and 28 points in the final 17 minutes.
“We are all disappointed not to get that win,” said head coach Jones.
“But this is a resilient group and we will go home and look to give it everything now on the final day of the season to finish on a positive note."
