Tiatia to remain Dragons head coach all season

Dragons intend to keep Filo Tiatia in their head coach role until the end of the season.

The former All Black was brought in as defence coach in May but was promoted to the top job when Dai Flanagan left the region last month.

Tiatia steered Dragons to only their second victory of the season in last weekend's 22-14 Challenge Cup win over Newcastle.

"The intention is to try and keep Filo in post and make sure it works out for him, he is capable and doing a good job," said Dragons chief executive Rhys Blumberg.

"Both parties are working well together and it's been a good start."

Blumberg said Dragons are "not actively out there hunting for a replacement" but are also making preparations in case Tiatia does not want the job.

In that instance, he said: "It will either be that Filo is in position as head coach for the next two years or that he is returning to being defence coach, with X as head coach after we have made an offer and had it agreed."

Blumberg also confirmed that a board meeting will be held at the end of January "whereby a decision will be made."

"We plan to hold a Q&A with fans the week after that featuring me and chairman David Wright, by which time we will have already announced what our plans are," he told the South Wales Argus.

Blumberg has also revealed more about the circumstances surrounding Flanagan's sudden departure, which was said to have been a mutual decision.

Blumberg said Flanagan "wanted a decision on his future" and had "applied a bit of pressure around what would happen for him."

"That almost made it a decision that had to be made quickly rather than wait for a bit longer and review things," Blumberg added.

"The decision was also based on the fact that we didn't win enough games in the first block.

"There was definitely an improvement in performances with certain things going in the right direction, but the board wasn't content with the amount of wins."

Dragons return to United Rugby Championship (URC) action on 26 December when they host Cardiff at 17:15 GMT.