A double on debut for full-back Dan Evans saw Newport Gwent Dragons romp to the top of the RaboDirect PRO12 table with an emphatic 37-6 victory as Zebre were given a baptism of fire at Rodney Parade.

Thanks to a dominant first-half performance, with the bonus point wrapped up before the break, the Dragons showed they have shrugged off the departures of Aled Brew, Luke Charteris and Jason Tovey with a performance that will delight head coach Darren Edwards.

Andy Tuilagi, Will Harries and Dan Evans (2) all carved open the hapless Zebre defence with the RaboDirect PRO12 new boys showing that they have plenty of work to do as the curtain came up on the league.

Zebre were afforded the chance to draw first blood when Dan Lydiate was penalised for not rolling away but Luciano Orquera missed his 45-yard effort on four minutes.

And that only served to stir the Dragons into life with Tom Prydie knocking over his first points for his new side on ten minutes after good work from Tuilagi, Pat Leach and Jevon Groves.

Tuilagi then scored the first try of the RaboDirect PRO12 2012-2013 season on 14 minutes after Jon Evans fed Dan Evans who calmly picked out the powerful Samoan, who eased over.

The Dragons had the bit between their teeth and 21-year-old fly-half Steffan Jones showed maturity beyond his years just two minutes later, cleverly slotting a drop goal to maintain the pressure on floundering Zebre.

Zebre were all at sea and with just 20 minutes gone the Dragons had racked up a 20-0 lead after flying wing Harries raced through to score before 20-year-old Prydie, who became Wales’ youngest ever international in 2010, added the extras.

Zebre No.10 Orquera gave the RaboDirect PRO12 newcomers some brief respite and got the visitors on the scoreboard on 23 minutes, but Dan Evans ensured it was short-lived and he strolled through a gaping hole in the Italians’ defence to score the Dragons’ third try with Prydie converting once more.

Jones’ kicking out of hand was causing Zebre all manner of problems – no doubt much to the delight of the watching Wales kicking coach Neil Jenkins – and while Orquera doubled his and his side’s tally, Dan Evans, a summer signing from the Scarlets, wrapped up the bonus point before just before half-time with his second try of the night.

There was a sense of anti-climax at Rodney Parade as the Dragons failed to spark in the second half as they had in the first with Zebre embarking on a damage limitation lesson after the break.

After 18 scoreless minutes of the second half, the Dragons made a procession of five replacements as the pace of the match slowed even further – the hosts seemingly already happy with their night’s work.

Confusion reigned with seven minutes to go as the Dragons were awarded a penalty. Prydie pointed to the posts, only for Lydiate to signal for a scrum, but with the decision already made by the wing, he had to go for goal and took his personal haul to 14 in what was the final scoring action of an impressive opening victory.