Incorrect.The fact you felt the need to offer it up as an excuse showed you were looking for an out. There was no excuse for turning up as limp as we did.
It was a contributing factor.
We don't live in fairyland. Losing key players impacts a number of metrics as to the performance on game day. You're arguing a strawman.
My original point was that, despite being undermanned and playing terribly, we were a bounce away from being 3 tries a piece.
That is more a comment on how much closer we were to the Dragons than people think, despite how we played or who we were missing.
Nuance matters.