THE Dragons fear that influential flanker Ollie Griffiths has suffered a serious jaw injury as victory came at a cost in Russia.

The Rodney Parade region enjoyed a 28-21 victory against Enisei-STM in the European Rugby Challenge Cup in Moscow.

Tries by captain Cory Hill, wing Jared Rosser, full-back Hallam Amos and scrum-half Charlie Davies ensured the Dragons are well in the mix for qualification from Pool One after with a five-point haul at Slava Stadium to add to their consolation from round one at Newcastle.

However, shine was taken off the win after openside Ollie Griffiths – who is a leading contender to be named in Warren Gatland’s Wales squad for the autumn internationals on Tuesday – was forced from the field in the first half.

The 22-year-old from Newbridge, who won his first cap against Tonga after a stellar 2016/17, has been sent for an X-ray in the Russian capital.

“Ollie’s not good, he’s gone for a scan and it could be a fractured jaw, although hopefully it won’t be as serious as that,” said head coach Bernard Jackman.

With openside Nic Cudd out for the majority of the season after knee surgery and number eight/blindside Harri Keddie sidelined for a couple of months after a shoulder operation, the Dragons have been down to their last three senior back row forwards.

Griffiths and James Benjamin started against Enisei while James Thomas came off the bench, with 20-year-old Aaron Wainwright given experience on the blindside.

Some good news came with seasoned campaigner Lewis Evans making his first appearance of the campaign in the back row for the Dragons Premiership Select XV against Jersey in the British & Irish Cup this afternoon after a pre-season Achilles injury.

The Griffiths injury was the only negative from a hard-earned win against Enisei, who beat the Dragons in Krasnodar last season.

It was the Welsh region’s first win away from Rodney Parade in any competition since stunning Gloucester in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup in April, 2016.

“We hadn’t won away in a long time so it was just important to get that millstone off,” said Jackman.

“When we scored our third try (Amos’ effort making it 21-0 early in the second half) we lost concentration and allowed them back in but I don’t think we were ever in danger of not winning and their last try came quite late.

“We are very happy and with six points from two away games we are very much still alive but we know that we have a lot of progress to make.

“It was cold and really difficult to handle the ball, while the pitch was very narrow. We weren’t patient enough and could have scored a lot more tries, but there were lots of positives.

“It’s a horrible batch of away games with Cardiff Blues, Newcastle, this game and the Ospreys, Leinster and Munster to come but being together like this will be good for us come January and February.”

The Dragons host Enisei then Newcastle in December before a January double-header with Bordeaux-Begles, the first game taking place in France.