Newport Gwent Dragons restored their pride in Europe with a more convincing Heineken Cup victory over Castres than the score indicated at Rodney Parade on Saturday.

Not only did it prevent an unprecedented whitewash, but their first victory of the season in the competition, coupled with a bonus point achieved in the first half, took them off the bottom of the pool table and above Castres.

They recorded a victory over one another and both ended up on six points, but the Dragons' superior try count took them above their French rivals.

It was also the Dragons' first bonus point in the Heineken Cup since they beat Edinburgh a year ago, and it marked their third successive home victory this year.

That alone will put them in good heart for their visit to Cork on Saturday for the resumption of bread-and-butter Celtic League fixtures against Munster.

And they travel on the back of an impressive five-try haul against Castres, four in a dynamic opening half when they played probably their best 40 minutes' rugby of the season, which should encourage all the youngsters in the packed family stand behind the posts to return.

Young backs Richard Fussell and Aled Thomas ran well after they were presented with a decent supply of possession by the pack, which was used to good effect by the inside backs.

The line-out worked much better, Ian Gough prominent, while Jamie Ringer got through a huge amount of work for the second week in a row and also won possession at the tail.

The scrum was also a lot more solid than the week before at Sale, with Steve Jones, until he injured his hip early in the second half, also working well in the loose.

Considering that the backs were missing Hal Luscombe, who pulled out with a groin strain, they profited from a decent supply of ball and scored the first three tries.

Winger Richard Fussell shot across for the first after Sione Tuipulotu, who switched to outside-centre, made a half-break and Thomas, who stepped in at full back, was up in support.

A piece of opportunism by Craig Warlow was responsible for the second as the ball came out crookedly from a Castres scrum and he pounced for the score.

There was more inventiveness, this time by Ceri Sweeney, celebrating his 26th birthday, when he performed a loop, chip ahead and chase to win the race for the touchdown and earned the Dragons their third try.

Ringer made it four and a bonus point a minute before the interval, when Michael Owen slung out one of his trademark long passes, Jones took the ball on and his pass sent Ringer haring away and down the left flank for the try.

A fifth followed 17 minutes into the second half, when the pack drove well, Gareth Cooper passed to the blind side where Gough took the ball and charged over, earning the man-of-the-match award as well.

It gave the Dragons a seemingly commanding 25-3 lead, Castres outside-half Romain Teulet having kicked a second- half penalty, which would have been more had not all five conversion attempts been missed, four by Sweeney and one by Warlow.

And, sure enough, Castres belatedly came back into the game as the Dragons failed to kill it off and the French side sensed at the very least a losing bonus point.

They started attacking from everywhere, and former England wing Phil Christophers, playing at full back, showed his qualities as he created a try for winger Yann Fior and scored another by swerving outside Tuipulotu, inside Cooper and over the line.

Teulet converted both, and suddenly Castres were trailing by only eight points with five minutes left.

Despite a 70-yard run by Cooper before he was overhauled, it required a late Warlow penalty, the one and only successful Dragons kick of the game, to settle the nerves and ensure not just the victory but third place in the pool table.

Newport Gwent Dragons: A Thomas, R Fussell, S Tuipulotu, C Sweeney, B Breeze, C Warlow, G Cooper, A Black (D Maddocks 71), S Jones (A Brown 44), R Thomas, I Gough, P Sidoli, J Ringer, M Owen (R Oakley 78), J Forster (captain). Scorers: tries - R Fussell, C Warlow, C Sweeney, J Ringer, I Gough; penalty - Warlow.

Castres: P Christophers, Y Fior, J Montoro, F Tuilagi, B Fleming, R Teulet, M Barrau, C Hoeft (F Ortego 71), D Romieu, J Castex, K Ghezal (L Nallet 66), N Spanghero (captain), G Bernard, G Taussac, F Faure. Scorers: tries - Y Fior, P Christophers; conversions - R Teulet (2); penalty - Teulet.