2025–26 Dragons RFC season
| 2025–26 season | |||
| Head coach | Filo Tiatia (interim) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| President | David Wright | ||
| |||
The 2025–26 season will be the Dragons RFC's fifth season in the United Rugby Championship, and their 24th season of professional representative rugby. Along with competing in the URC and its Welsh Shield competition, the club will also participate in the European Rugby Challenge Cup.
United Rugby Championship
Matches
| 26 September 2025 | (1 BP) Ulster | 42 – 21 | Dragons | Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast | |
| 20:05 | Try: Izuchukwu 12' Timoney 28' McCann 34' Z. Ward 36' Doak 42' Stewart 80+3' Con: Doak (5) 13' 29' 34' 38' 43' Flannery 80+4' |
Report[1] | Try: Wainwright 0' Rosser 16' Lewis-Hughes 49' Con: De Beer (3) 2' 17' 50' |
Attendance: 9,563[2] Referee: Colby Griffin |
| 3 October 2025 | Dragons | 17 – 17 | Sharks | Rodney Parade, Newport | |
| 20:05 | Try: Wainwright 15' O'Brien 26' Con: de Beer (2/2) 16', 27' Pen: de Beer (1/1) 66' Cards: Coleman 73' |
Report[3] | Try: Orie 8' Tshituka 38' Con: J. Smith (2/2) 9', 39' Pen: J. Smith (1/1) 19' |
Attendance: 4 889 [4] Referee: Filippo Russo |
| 11 October 2025 | (1 BP) Glasgow Warriors | 49 – 0 | Dragons | Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow | |
| 17:30 | Try: Steyn (10') Horne (25', 62') Brown (43') Hiddleston (47') Matthews (67') Con: Hastings (11', 26', 43', 48') Horne (62') Lancaster(68') |
Report | Cards: Dyer 80'+1 | Attendance: 6,802 |
| 17 October 2025 | (1 BP) Dragons | 17 – 24 | Cardiff (1 BP) | Rodney Parade, Newport | |
| 19:45 | Try: Coghlan (7') Carter (72') Con: de Beer (8', 73') Pen: O'Brien (80') |
Report Scoreboard |
Try: Mann (2') Faletau (14') Dan Thomas(20') Southworth (61') Con: Sheedy (14') Ben Thomas (62') |
Attendance: 7,483[5] Referee: Federico Vedovelli |
| 25 October 2025 | Dragons | 19 – 19 | Ospreys | Rodney Parade, Newport | |
| 17:30 | Try: R Williams (38' c) Coghlan (60' c) Burrows (76' m) Con: de Beer (40', 61') |
Report | Try: Deaves (15' m) Cokanasiga (20' c) Hopkins (46' c) Con: Edwards (20', 47') Cards: Kasende 80' |
Attendance: 5,511[6] Referee: Ben Breakspear |
| 28 November 2025 | Dragons | 10–24 | Leinster (1 BP) | Rodney Parade, Newport | |
| 19:45 | Try: Screech (31' c) Con: de Beer(32') Pen: O'Brien(47') |
Report | Try: Soroka (4' m) Kenny (44' c, 59' m) Snyman (78' c) Con: Byrne (45', 79') Cards: Mangan 29' to 39' Penny 38' to 48' McGrath 80' to f.t.' |
Attendance: 4,244[7] Referee: Morne Ferreira |
| 20 December 2025 | Dragons | v | Connacht | Rodney Parade | |
| 19:45 |
| 26 December 2025 | Cardiff | v | Dragons | Cardiff Arms Park | |
| 15:00 |
| 1 January 2026 | Dragons | v | Scarlets | Rodney Parade | |
| 15:00 |
| 23 January 2026 | Munster | v | Dragons | Virgin Media Park | |
| 19:45 |
| 31 January 2026 | Ospreys | v | Dragons | Brewery Field, Bridgend | |
| 19:45 |
| 28 February 2026 | Dragons | v | Benetton | Rodney Parade | |
| 17:30 |
| 21 March 2026 | Stormers | v | Dragons | TBC | |
| 17:30 |
| 28 March 2026 | Lions | v | Dragons | Emirates Airline Park | |
| 14:30 |
| 17 April 2026 | Dragons | v | Bulls | Rodney Parade | |
| 19:45 |
| 24 April 2026 | Zebre Parma | v | Dragons | Stadio Lanfranchi | |
| 19:45 |
| 9 May 2026 | Dragons | v | Edinburgh | Rodney Parade | |
| 19:45 |
| 16 May 2026 | Scarlets | v | Dragons | Parc y Scarlets | |
| 17:15 |
Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stormers | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 184 | 60 | +124 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 27 | Qualifies for home URC quarter-final; Qualification for the 2026–27 Champions Cup |
| 2 | Cardiff | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 140 | 101 | +39 | 22 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 25 | |
| 3 | Munster | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 146 | 116 | +30 | 21 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 24 | |
| 4 | Ulster | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 182 | 116 | +66 | 26 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 21 | |
| 5 | Glasgow Warriors | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 161 | 87 | +74 | 22 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 20 | Qualifies for URC quarter-final; Qualification for the 2026–27 Champions Cup |
| 6 | Leinster | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 150 | 146 | +4 | 23 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 16 | |
| 7 | Lions | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 176 | 178 | −2 | 24 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 16 | |
| 8 | Bulls | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 172 | 190 | −18 | 26 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 15 | |
| 9 | Connacht | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 120 | 91 | +29 | 17 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 13 | Qualification for the 2026–27 Challenge Cup |
| 10 | Edinburgh | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 128 | 88 | +40 | 20 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 13 | |
| 11 | Zebre Parma | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 106 | 182 | −76 | 14 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 10 | |
| 12 | Benetton | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 101 | 176 | −75 | 11 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| 13 | Ospreys | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 127 | 159 | −32 | 19 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 14 | Sharks | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 113 | 180 | −67 | 17 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |
| 15 | Dragons | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 84 | 175 | −91 | 11 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 16 | Scarlets | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 81 | 126 | −45 | 9 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Updated to match(es) played on 29 November 2025. Source: UnitedRugby.com
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won 2) The difference between points for and points against 3) The number of tries scored 4) The most points scored 5) The difference between tries for and tries against 6) The fewest red cards received 7) The fewest yellow cards received.[8]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won 2) The difference between points for and points against 3) The number of tries scored 4) The most points scored 5) The difference between tries for and tries against 6) The fewest red cards received 7) The fewest yellow cards received.[8]
| |||||||||||||||||
| Welsh Shield | |||||||||||||||||
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TBP | LBP | Pts | Pos overall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 17 | +7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | — | |||
| 2 | Dragons | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 43 | -7 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | — | |||
| 3 | Ospreys | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | |||
| 4 | Scarlets | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[9]
| |||||||||||||||||
| Green background indicates teams currently leading the regional shield. Upon the conclusion of the regular season, these teams win their respective regional shields. (S) : URC Shield champion | |||||||||||||||||
European Challenge Cup
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benetton | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 49 | +21 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 9 | Home round of 16 |
| 2 | Newcastle Red Bulls | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 24 | +13 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 3 | Perpignan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 72 | 61 | +11 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 4 | Dragons | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 62 | −22 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Away round of 16 |
| 5 | Lyon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 46 | −11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 6 | Lions | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 40 | −12 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Source: EPCR[10]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.
Pool matches
| 7 December 2025 | (1 BP) Perpignan | 41–17 | Dragons | Stade Aime Giral, Perpignan | |
| 14:00 | Try: Hall 12' c Diaby 28' c Joseph 50' m Chinarro 59' m Le Corvec 76' c Con: Kretchmann (2/4) 13', 29' Aprasidze (1/1) 77' Pen: Kretchmann (1/2) 45' Cards: Carter 71' |
Report | Try: Westwood 55' c Austin (2) 64' m, 82' m Con: O'Brien (1/3) 55' Cards: Paia'aua 15' |
Attendance: 6,215 Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy) |
References
- ^ Peter Lockhart, "Ulster fight back to score six tries on opening night after disastrous start against Dragons", Belfast Telegraph, 26 September 2025
- ^ "Match Report | Ulster 42-21 Dragons", Ulster Rugby, 26 September 2025
- ^ James, Ben. "Dragons 17-17 Sharks report". Wales Online. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- ^ "Dragons draw after dramatic finale". Dragons RFC. 3 October 2025. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- ^ "Dragons 17 Cardiff 24". South Wales Argus. 17 October 2025. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
- ^ Websites - 3bit.co.uk, We Build. "Dragon News : Burrows late try seals comeback draw". dragonsrfc.wales. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Websites - 3bit.co.uk, We Build. "Dragon News : Brave Dragons denied late on by Leinster". dragonsrfc.wales. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Competition rules – United Rugby Championship". United Rugby Championship. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
- ^ League Format (3) "Competition Rules". United Rugby Championship. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ "Pool Tables | EPCR Challenge Cup". European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 2 July 2024.