“It’s just the realisation of opportunities missed again”- 5 talking points: Filo Tiatia reacts to defeat in the Challenge Cup for the ‘Men of Gwent’

Dragon’s opened their European campaign with a narrow 18-14 defeat to Top 14 side Montpellier Herault at a stormy Rodney Parade. It was the same old story for the Dragons as they allowed the visitors to go into an early lead at the end of the first quarter which proved costly.

Tries from Madosh Tambwe and Marco Tualeigne, accompanied by the boot of fly-half Aurelien Barreau, saw the visitors into an early lead on a night where points came at a premium. 

The hosts responded efficiently with tries from Taine Basham and Angus O’Brien, but when it came to the crunch in the second half, it was the same old story for what has been a miserable season so far for the Dragons.

1: “We were actually selfish” -Tiatia openly admits his side wasn’t playing as a team. 

“Yeah, pretty sombre, and I think it’s really just realisation of opportunities missed again and yeah, we just weren’t clinical enough,” said interim head coach Tiatia. 

“But also some moments where we didn’t actually play as a team. We were actually selfish with some of the actions, and we’ve just got to learn a little bit faster.

“What I mean by selfish is that could they have gone together, and were they connected.

“That’s what I mean.”

2: Dragons did well to bring back the game to just four points but were unable to add to it

Despite numerous visits to the visitors 22, Tiatia’s men could not convert them into points despite having considerable possession in the second half. But that’s been one of the main narratives so far this season for the Dragons, as they are not clinical enough in the red zone despite all the hard work in the second quarter of the encounter.

Tiatia said: “Well, you know, the character that seemed like the DNA of this place is Gwent rugby and blue collar and try and work really hard for each other. They managed to do that but again, we just got to be better just around opportunities and really executing it.

“You just got to keep growing, you know, and review it, be really honest around some of the things that we need to be better at and that’s what we’re currently doing at the moment. You see moments that were much better than what we were last week. Some of the young guys they learned some valuable lessons.

“They’d be better for it, and that’s why we want to expose some of our youth. Some of them are not quite ready yet, but at some point, they’ve got to be exposed. Otherwise, they won’t get a chance.

3: Is European Rugby not quite the lure it used to be, with many clubs making a lot of changes to their XV

Tiatia said: “ No, I don’t think so. 

“I think it’s a great opportunity to play in the Challenge Cup or any European competition and I think the opportunity to play against Montpellier was a different style that they played, and they’re more forward in some parts. Similar to the way we play against the South Africans.

“Yeah, it was a different challenge and it was a good one. 

“The weather didn’t help. We sort of had the playing against the wind in the first half, and there was no wind in the second half for some parts. So we just had to adapt, and unfortunately, we fell short.” 

4: In terms of positives from the game, despite the spirited fightback, are there really any? 

“Look, I thought some parts of our defensive game, we turned the ball over, we change the momentum that was pleasing,” Tiatia added. 

“I thought our set piece, our line-out, I thought when we got it right, we could actually create momentum off it. More try opportunities didn’t quite get there, but we can build pressure moving forward. So there was a lot of good stuff.”

5; Up next for the ‘Men of Gwent’ is a trip to Kingsholm to face the Falcons 

Next Sunday, Tiatia’s men travel up north to face Steve Diamond’s Newcastle Falcons side in what can be described as a must-win situation if the Dragons have any thoughts of advancing in Europe. Despite a tough start to the season in the Gallagher Premiership, they have recorded in their last outing a win over the Saracens (17-12) after the international break. At the time of writing, Newcastle had yet to start their European campaign, which will be against Pau on Sunday. 

On what Tiatia expects from the Falcons, he added: “Well, they’re similar to this region. They’re tough. They’re a very good hard-working team. 

“They play percentages, had a good look at them. It’ll be interesting to see which side they put out, but they will be tough up there and under no illusions on the assignment that’s ahead next Sunday,” he concluded.