Dragons ready for URC opener after strong pre-season

Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia believes his side are ready for the start of the 2026/27 United Rugby Championship season after an encouraging pre-season and a clear focus on climbing the league table.

Dragons ready for new URC season

The Men of Gwent begin their campaign away to Benetton in Treviso on Friday night after completing pre-season with two convincing victories.

Dragons beat Hartpury 81-12 at Rodney Parade before recording an 80-14 win over Scarlets at Llandovery, giving the squad valuable match minutes ahead of the competitive campaign.

“First game up, both teams are excited to get the season going. We’re looking forward to it,” Tiatia said.

The Dragons coach believes the squad has made progress during pre-season and wants that development to help the team climb the URC table.

Tiatia targets progress and top-eight challenge

Tiatia has set a clear expectation for Dragons to improve on their previous league position and put themselves in contention for the URC play-offs.

“We have expectations around what we want to achieve as a group, and we want to shift from where we have been on the ladder. We want to go up,” he said.

“We have got to be in the scrap to be top eight and we need to get things right in our game and model.”

Young Dragons earn opportunities

Tiatia has also been encouraged by the progress of the club’s younger and homegrown players during preparations for the season.

“There has been some good growth in pre-season with some of our young guys that are developing here and are homegrown.

“When you see the team when it gets named, you will see we have given opportunity to players who have earned the opportunity to put the jersey on".

Dragons face Benetton at Stadio Monigo on Friday, September 25, before returning to Rodney Parade for successive Welsh derbies against Scarlets and Ospreys.