588-game, one-club Director of Rugby picks man from Rotorua as best-ever signing

Former Wales full-back Mike Rayer has just completed a remarkable 20th season in charge of Bedford Blues. In the same period that Leicester have had 14 men in charge, Bedford have had just the one.

Rayer, who also played for the Blues in the early days of professionalism, came on board for the start of the 2005/06 season and his first game ended in a 16-16 draw at Otley. He has since presided over 588 games.

For most of those two decades, the Blues have been a part-time outfit, but have been more than a match for most of their English second-tier rivals. In 16 of Rayer’s 20 seasons, Bedford have finished in the top half of the table, and this season they were runners-up for the fourth time on his watch, which shows his appetite for the job shows no sign of diminishing.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you there are good days and bad days, like most jobs. But there are worse things in this world to be doing,” he said, reflecting on his tenure there.

“I take it on a day-by-day basis and I come in and try and do the job to the best of my ability and hopefully that ensures the players can come into a good environment and do what they do well and go and enjoy themselves because that is what it is all about – enjoying good moments on and off the field with good people.”

As a club, Bedford have been a model of stability and sustainability since local businessman Geoff Irvine rescued the club from financial oblivion a quarter of a century ago. The Blues turned in a small profit this season, the only club of the top 12 in England to do so, with Rayer always accepting the fact that the club’s future well-being comes first and foremost and that success cannot be bought at the Blues.

With a tight rein kept on budgets, recruiting well has been one of the key things Rayer has had to get right. Bedford were one of the pioneers of the dual-registration system, with Owen Farrell and Dan Cole two notable players to have earned their early spurs at Goldington Road, on loan from Saracens and Leicester.

And the club’s link with Northampton Saints has proved to be especially profitable in the Rayer years, with back-row enforcer Paul Tupai heralded as his best-ever signing.

Born and raised in Rotorua, Tupai was a Ranfurly Shield winner with the Bay of Plenty under Vern Cotter and Joe Schmidt before embarking on a career overseas at Northampton. After three seasons at Saints, Tupai arrived at Goldington Road in 2008 as a fresh-faced 32-year-old.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, Paul Tupai,” Rayer said without hesitation, when asked about his best piece of recruitment.

“I signed him for a couple of years, and he lasted for 10 or 11. He was a great clubman who wore his heart on his sleeve and led from the front.

“He probably set the tone and the values for where we are now. There are still a couple of lads who were around at the back end of his career, and it has been easy to carry that forward into the next era.”

‘Toops’ retired from playing in 2018, having featured in over 250 games for the club, but his son Connor, a scrum-half, maintained the family link for a few more seasons before heading off to pastures new.

Rayer’s longevity in the job is remarkable in itself, especially in such a results-driven business, but even more so because he’s never had a physical contract. A handshake between him and the Chairman has always been enough.

And given what he has achieved, it is also surprising that Rayer has never been tempted away by a Premiership club or a Welsh region.

“I’ve had a couple of conversations over the years, but it has all been about timing, that’s been true for the whole of my career really,” he said.

“If someone wants to come and talk to me, it’s because of what I have done at Bedford on a day-to-day basis. That conversation happened a few years back, but it just wasn’t the right time and place for me, and not the right fit.”