The Dragons were denied a dramatic victory away to Benetton by the smallest of margins, with Tinus de Beer's late conversion hitting the post in a 19-19 draw.
Despite being second-best in the set-piece, the Dragons came agonisingly close to snatching an away victory at the start of the season. After Wales hooker Elliot Dee's score 90 seconds from time levelled the scores, de Beer had a difficult shot at goal from out wide.
However, his effort bounced off the upright. The Dragons still had a chance to maybe get something more - but Rio Dyer decided to settle for the draw after the Men of Gwent turned over the Italians on halfway long after the clock had gone red.
Superb performances
Thomas Young was superb throughout, as was debutant wing Anzelo Tuitavuki.
While the Dragons were looking to build upon last season's improvements, it was a case of new faces bedding in for the home side.
Former Wales coach Wayne Pivac has taken over the Italian outfit, bringing in former Scarlets fly-half Rhys Patchell as his attack coach.
Despite the change at the top, it was Benetton that settled sooner.
First-half action
After applying the early pressure, they would open the scoring after 12 minutes - with centre Francois Mey crossing for his first try since moving from France's second tier.
With the Dragons' discipline struggling, hooker Bautista Bernasconi doubled the lead on 24 minutes following a driving maul.
The Men of Gwent hit back instantly, with Seb Davies' offload releasing Thomas Young into space. The openside didn't panic, feeding de Beer to score their first try.
However, it would be Benetton who had the final say of the first-half, with Ignacio Mendy crossing out wide after the clock had gone red.
Second-half fightback
Needing to score first in the second-half, Filo Tiatia's side did exactly that. After Dyer's break moved the Dragons up the field, patient build-up created space for impressive Tuitavuki.
The Tongan international sucked in three defenders, before offloading to Fine Inisi to score out wide.
The Dragons thought they had drawn level 14 minutes from time after a brilliant move. Having switched the play from left to right, Tuitavuki released Huw Anderson - who was only denied by a tap tackle.
He managed to get an offload away to Che Hope to dive over. However, a belated TMO check adjudged Anderson to have knocked the ball on - having tapped the ball back just after he had started to spill it forward.
That third score would come just minutes before the death. Backs and forwards all piled into a driving lineout just moments from the end, with Dee coming up with the ball.
However, de Beer's kick couldn't split the posts.
After the Dragons kept the match going after the kick-off, Benetton had a spell of possession - perhaps explaining why Dyer hoofed the ball off-field when they did eventually win it back.
Some team-mates and probably many more fans wished the Wales wing might have looked to find a winning score.
