A strong Dragons outfit notched up four tries in an impressive first half display, as they raced to a 31-0 lead inside the opening half hour.
The contest was much more evenly matched after the interval as both sides continued their preparations for the start of the GUINNESS PRO12 in three weeks’ time.
Steve Shingler scored on his debut for the capital region and Josh Nividi and Dan Fish touched down for the visitors in the second half but they couldn’t claw back the deficit after the Dragons’ powerful first-half display.
Former Sale Sharks and Cardiff Blues outside-half Nick Macleod was one of three new players given their debuts by Dragons head coach Kingsley Jones, along with with Pat Howard and Tom Davies.
Macleod was straight into the action with a penalty after four minutes and it kick-started a blistering opening half an hour for the home side.
South African lock Rynard Landman went over after nine minutes after a solid line-out from the Dragons and within two minutes of the restart the home side had their second try as Elliot Dee forced his way over from close range.
The Blues looked shell-shocked after a tough 20 minutes and things went from bad to worse when Dragons’ wing Adam Hughes intercepted Garyn Smith’s pass and raced under the posts.
Nic Cudd grabbed the Dragons’ fourth try just before the half hour mark with another powerful finish from five metres.
The Blues finally gathered themselves five minutes before the interval and managed their first score, with scrum-half Lewis Jones slipping under the posts.
Several changes from both sides took the sting out of the contest at the beginning of the second half but it was the Dragons who found their feet first with a fifth try through Thomas Rhys Thomas.
Former Scarlets outside-half Shingler then scored and converted his own try following a nice break down the touchline.
Minutes later Josh Navidi intercepted a loose Dragons pass in midfield to race home from 40m, with Shingler adding the conversion.
More changes from both sides took the fluency out of the game but Dan Fish got a third Blues tries in the final moments when he collected a kick down field to go under the posts.Â
