Tiatia has made 10 changes to the team that lost 49-0 to Glasgow as he tries to break an astonishing 19-match losing streak against their biggest rivals, Cardiff, at Rodney Parade on Friday night.
Asked if he might have picked a different, perhaps stronger side to go to Scotland last week had the turnaround between games been longer than six days, the New Zealander was unrepentant.
“No,” he says. “We had always planned it that way. We planned to give players an opportunity in the first two weeks and we wanted to see how the players responded.”
In terms of the result, a virtual second string team “responded” how most people might have predicted at Scotstoun – they lost heavily.
Tiatia is hardly the first coach in the United Rugby Championship to field a weakened team and he won’t be the last.
Leinster do it regularly around this time before the autumn international series begins, but suffer few consequences since their back-up players are normally good enough to beat most opposition.
But coaches choosing to rest players en masse - picking and choosing which games they are more likely to win and which they can write off - does the competition no favours.
READ MORE: Dragons Coach Filo Tiatia Backs WRU To Pick The Right Number
It undermines the credibility of the tournament, reduces the potential for shock results, and frustrates broadcasters.
Other, more mature leagues have specific rules to counter this strategy and even though the Premier League made their policy less specific in 2015, they still have a requirement that teams apply the spirit of proper competition.
They also have an ally in public and media opinion. Imagine the outrage if Wolves, fighting against relegation at the season end, made 10 changes for a trip to face Liverpool at Anfield because they were saving themselves for a home game against Burnley – especially if those lost points handed Liverpool the title ahead of furious rivals.
There is, of course, no promotion or relegation in the URC but even in the NFL they can hand out penalties and fines if they believe a team is guilty of “tanking.”
What makes the Dragons’ decision all the more risky is that their under-strength team were thrashed in Glasgow at the very time they are trying to convince the Welsh Rugby Union they deserve to be part of whatever reduced structure is about to be proposed.
READ MORE: Dragons Don’t Lose . . . But Filo Tiatia Can’t Believe They Didn’t Win, Either
The Dragons have some strengths in their claim for survival within a new top tier: fans who produce the best atmosphere among the four regions; a hinterland of historic clubs; and a sounder financial footing compared to their rivals.
But against that – as this table proves - they are comfortably the worst performing of the four Welsh teams across the period since regional rugby arrived in 2003.
| Team | P | W | Win % | L | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ospreys | 452 | 247 | 54.65 | 190 | 15 |
| Scarlets | 450 | 235 | 52.22 | 201 | 14 |
| Cardiff Rugby | 443 | 209 | 47.17 | 225 | 9 |
| Dragons RFC | 443 | 139 | 31.38 | 293 | 11 |
If they fail to beat Cardiff for the 20th time of asking on Friday, then supporters may well ask if the big defeat at Glasgow served any real purpose, other than to confirm they are still the weakest of the four teams in Wales.
That’s not how Tiatia see it, though, and the former Ospreys forward is unapologetic.
“I don't think it's picking weaker teams. I've always said from the start of the journey of this group, it is about opportunity - players and coaches,.
“The mentality of improving is the mantra. How do we keep improving?
“It was always planned that we would observe players, give them an opportunity and that happened in Glasgow.
“Our job as coaches is to get the players up to speed, where they need to get to, and we'll just keep working with them.”
In a much-changed Dragons line-up, the only survivors are centres Harri Ackerman and Aneurin Owen, wing Fine Inisi and former Cardiff forwards Shane Lewis-Hughes and Seb Davies.
Flanker Harry Beddall makes his first Dragons start.
Cardiff will head into the derby clash in confident mood after winning two of their opening three games to sit fourth in the United Rugby Championship table.
The Dragons are still searching for their first league victory in over a year — a run of 20 games without a win since they last beat the Ospreys in September 2024.
Cardiff's previous league defeat in this fixture came in December 2014, while the Dragons' last win was a Challenge Cup quarter-final success in April 2015.
Cardiff coach Corniel van Zyl believes his team should face a fresher Dragons group after Tiatia’s selection a week ago, but is still backing his visitors to come through and preserve their remarkable record.
"It's a Welsh derby, which are always tight affairs and Rodney Parade is a tough place to go," said van Zyl.
"The Dragons rotated their team a bit last week, so they will be fresh and hugely motivated to take us on.
"They will throw everything at us, but we are excited by the challenge."
Dragons: O'Brien (co-capt); Dyer, Owen, Ackerman, Inisi; de Beer, R Williams; W Jones, Coghlan, Hunt, S Davies, Carter (co-capt), Lewis-Hughes, Beddall, Wainwright.
Replacements: Burrows, Martinez, D Lewis, Screech, Woodman, N Armstrong, C Evans, Anderson.
Cardiff: Winnett; Adams, Beetham, B Thomas, Bowen; Sheedy, A Davies; Domachowski, Belcher (capt), Assiratti, McNally, Nott, Mann, D Thomas, Faletau.
Replacements: E Lloyd, Southworth, Sebastian, Thornton, Lawrence, Basham, Mulder, I Lloyd.
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (WRU), Adam Jones (WRU)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR).
