Head Coach Filo Tiatia has said his Dragons with belief and excitement as they prepare to face French giants Stade Francais Paris in Europe this weekend.
The Men of Gwent make the trip to the French capital and Stade Jean Bouin on Sunday afternoon in the last 16 of the EPCR Challenge Cup (kick-off 12.30pm UK time).
Stade are flying high in the French Top 14 and go into the game on the back of a convincing home win over Clermont in the league.
However, Tiatia believes his team can go to Paris and unset the odds and can also call on the memories of 2014 for inspiration.
On that occasion the Dragons stunned Stade at the same venue with a 38-22 victory – with co-captain Angus O’Brien slotting 18 points.
“There is belief in the group and what we have been working on,” said Tiatia.
“The leadership group has been great to work with and there is no point putting a jersey on and going out without belief.
“We have grown in this competition. Our first away game was against Perpignan. We weren’t at our best and we took some learnings around what we needed to shift on,” added Tiatia.
“We looked at cohesion and how we imprint our game model to where we know it can be.
“We made some changes around the building and habits we needed to change. The group has shifted together.”
Reflecting on the game in 2014, Tiatia revealed how a key player from that day had been in Ystrad Mynach this week to talk to the playing squad.
“We had Richie Rees, who was part of that team, come in and present to the group when we named the squad,” he said.
“It is special when you have players like that come back, but also players that featured in that game. It was a special moment in our club’s history.
“We are looking forward to the match, looking forward to the occasion and the opportunity that the players have.
“We are very clear about who we are representing when we take to the field.”
We are looking forward to the match, looking forward to the occasion and the opportunity that the players have... We are very clear about who we are representing when we take to the field...
