\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He won only once after taking the reins \u2013 at Newcastle in the Challenge Cup \u2013 and the club finished bottom of the United Rugby Championship (URC) for the first time.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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<\/a> in the coming campaign.<\/p>\n “We really improved and Filo deserves real credit for how much belief he instills in people \u2013 that is his superpower.<\/p>\n “He is a mentor for the players and gets them to believe they are good enough to compete with anybody.”<\/p>\n Tiatia worked without a defence coach after stepping up from that role in 2024-25.<\/p>\n He brought in Dale MacLeod last summer, with the experienced New Zealander effectively acting as his number two.<\/p>\n “Dale is an important part of it \u2013 he is the yin to Filo’s yang,” said Blumberg.<\/p>\n “You have two fantastic, technically-astute young coaches in Matt O’Brien and Sam Hobbs and other really good support staff.<\/p>\n “But Filo and Dale are two senior, experienced figures leading the programme, offering security and guidance.”<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n