“That’s not to say we were satisfied with the performance as a whole, especially the second half, but to get four tries and the victory was very pleasing.

“We should have pushed a little harder, especially when Newport were down to 13 men with the two sin-binnings, but we got a little disorganised trying to force the game and gifted them an interception try to get themselves back in it. That changed the shape of the game because they went in to half time with their tails up, and we became more and more nervous as the match wore on.

“We tried our best to lose it right at the end, but we showed character and hung on to get the result which is ultimately what matters most.

“Over the 80 minutes we probably just edged it, but in terms of the physicality and the work at the breakdown Newport were outstanding for the whole game and provided us with our toughest forward test of the season.”

Hailing the never-say-die attitude of the travelling Dragons, Fletcher said: “Whoever says the Magners League isn’t physical wants their head looked at, because the Dragons gave us one hell of a test upfront today.

“Their hunger, defence and team spirit was fantastic, but then you would expect that from any team that has Colin Charvis involved. They are a good side, and they just wouldn’t give up.”

Turning attention to his own team, he added: “I thought we made a lot of good choices, but our execution was poor.

“Three or four things we tried to do were the right things to do, but we didn’t carry them through effectively. That was a big disappointment, and as a team we have to learn to kill off games like this if we want to be one of the best – which is what we aspire to.”

Hailing the bonus point try from barnstorming winger John Rudd, Fletcher said: “They don’t call him ‘Rhino’ for the fact that he has a big horn!

“When he hits that line at pace, especially after beating the first tackler, he’s very hard to stop. It was a great try, created by one of the passes of the season by Steve Jones – a really sublime pass which deserves to be singled out as well as obviously a great finish from Ruddy.”

With three yellow cards dished out from Welsh referee James Jones, Fletcher insisted he had no complaints about the officiating, stating: “We knew after the first five or six minutes how he was going to referee the game, wanting quick ruck ball all the time.

“I have no problem at all with that personally, and I think there should be more of that in the Premiership. People who try and slow the game down shouldn’t be allowed to stay on the pitch. Newport lost two guys to the bin and we had Mathew Tait in there as well, but to be honest I thought all three were pretty good calls given that he’d spelt it out very early what he wanted from the players.”