Filo Tiatia: Dragons head coach in contract talks over new deal at Rodney Parade

Dragons are in advanced talks with head coach Filo Tiatia about a contract extension.

The former All Blacks forward joined the Rodney Parade club in the summer of 2024 as defence coach.

He was promoted as interim boss after the departure of Dai Flanagan the following November and was appointed on a permanent basis in February 2025.

Tiatia's deal expires at the end of the 2026-27 campaign and Dragons are keen to retain his services.

"We'd love to lock Filo in and back him for a long-term future at the Dragons," said chief executive Rhys Blumberg.

"He has definitely got an appetite to stay and we have an appetite to keep him. We will work through that over the next month or so to get something done."

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Tiatia, who previously coached at Auckland and Moana Pasifik, as well as Toyota Verblitz and Sunwolves in Japan, had a tough first season at Dragons.

He won only once after taking the reins – at Newcastle in the Challenge Cup – and the club finished bottom of the United Rugby Championship (URC) for the first time.

Big strides were made last season with three wins and four draws in the URC, although Dragons were pipped to 14th place by Scarlets on win count.

"We finished 15th but there was progress with 19 more league points and getting to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup," said Blumberg, who has set a target of pushing for the play-offs in the coming campaign.

"We really improved and Filo deserves real credit for how much belief he instills in people – that is his superpower.

"He is a mentor for the players and gets them to believe they are good enough to compete with anybody."

Tiatia worked without a defence coach after stepping up from that role in 2024-25.

He brought in Dale MacLeod last summer, with the experienced New Zealander effectively acting as his number two.

"Dale is an important part of it – he is the yin to Filo's yang," said Blumberg.

"You have two fantastic, technically-astute young coaches in Matt O'Brien and Sam Hobbs and other really good support staff.

"But Filo and Dale are two senior, experienced figures leading the programme, offering security and guidance."

Dragons kick off their URC campaign at Benetton on Friday, 25 September (19:45 BST), the first of six fixtures in the first block of the season.