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'Glasgow play a very fast, attacking brand of rugby. We want to keep that going'
These days, new rugby coaches are given ostentatious unveilings, introduced to the press and the supporters against a sparkling backdrop. Clubs and their marketing people are eager to put on a show that befits the grandeur of the appointment.
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Richard Cockerill held his first briefing in charge of Edinburgh in a steakhouse. Glasgow staged Dave Rennie’s at a glitzy hotel where most of the lunchtime patrons are adorned by some corporate lanyard or other.
Such is the necessary tedium of life amid the coronavirus pandemic, Danny Wilson addressed the media for the first time as Glasgow coach from his house on Wednesday afternoon, presented to a rogues’ gallery of sprouting lockdown hair, crinkled shirts, desperately unflattering webcam angles and the painful absence of a free buffet.
Rightly or wrongly, this enforced and unglamorous first look at Wilson as a Warrior mirrors how a chunk of the club’s fanbase feels about their new man. Scotland’s pack did not blossom as Wilson would have hoped under his stewardship, although his influence may well have been blunted by a conflict of styles with Gregor Townsend.
There are worries that his sideways shift from the national team to Glasgow after less than two years is a convenient and inexpensive route out for all parties.
But the former hooker should not have to begin his reign by defending his credentials for the job.
As a number one, he was adored at Cardiff Blues while the region was ravaged by financial chaos, winning the European Challenge Cup in 2018, developing a powerful culture and a host of top young players.
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Some of Welsh rugby’s biggest names are effusive in their praise for the former hooker. In the years before the Blues, he took Wales Under-20s to a Junior World Championship semi-final and final in successive seasons, beating New Zealand along the way.
Yet after the stardust of Rennie, and the glory brought by Townsend, Wilson is going to have to compel those unmoved by his excellent work.
“I’m really proud of what I’ve been involved in as a head coach and the environments I’ve been involved in,” Wilson said.
“I’ve been involved in Cardiff Blues winning a European trophy, taking an U20s team to a World Cup final and what we achieved as that group.
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“Granted, I’m not a Dave Rennie name, I understand that, but I believe in my ability to do the job and add value to the job. I know it’s a very passionate rugby environment, going in to Glasgow as an away coach I know that, and being there as a Scotland coach I know that.
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“My focus is getting in the door, getting on the job, and hopefully adding value.”
The angst is compounded by a dearth of new signings at a time where Glasgow has inexorably leaked some of its greatest talent. In three years under Rennie, Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg left, and Jonny Gray has now followed.
There was talk of a major recruitment drive when Gray’s departure for Exeter Chiefs was confirmed, but Covid-19 took a sledgehammer to that.
Warriors have done very well to keep Leone Nakarawa, the incredible Fijian lock, for another season, brought back Richie Gray from France and signed Argentina international prop Enrique Pieretto, but there are still big holes in their squad.
Warriors desperately need a front-line full-back a year since Hogg went, and while Wilson would dearly love to sign one, he can’t do so with Scottish Rugby’s recruitment in a state of indefinite suspension.
“I’m not going to hide away from that [signing a full-back], it’s certainly part of the plans,” he said. “It’s on hold at the moment and hopefully we can pick that up again.
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He added: “We have a couple more announcements to make. Due to the current situation, we were paused in terms of recruitment. There were plans to do a bit more, but we have been on pause since March.
“Leone makes a huge difference to the back-five of the scrum. We worked really hard over a period of time to keep him at Glasgow. We now have a couple more signings to make that will deal with the back-five of the scrum area and we will then see how the future lies when we come out of this period.”
On the Pro14’s official podcast last week, it was fascinating to hear Sean Holley, the former Ospreys coach and a colleague of Wilson’s at Bristol, talk of his friend’s love for the “nuts and bolts” of the game, how he might steer Glasgow away from an overly gung-ho style of play that has haemorrhaged tries from turnover ball this season, and improve their set-piece.
The gist was that Wilson is exactly what they need.
That seems to jar with the established and treasured Glasgow way, a feverish, edge-of-the-seat team who can score from anywhere and play at blistering speed. What Wilson wants to bring is a little more calmness, a more robust defence and greater accuracy in possession. This term, they concede on average three tries per Pro14 match.
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“Glasgow play a very fast, attacking brand of rugby,” he said. “Their attacking stats are phenomenal and have been for the past few years. We want to keep that going and develop it because I think that’s what brings people in to watch.
“The players and supporters are passionate about it, so that identity is not going to change. But we also need to build on our defence and develop a game management strategy.
“If we can build on those two things to go with the attacking brand then I think that will move us forward.
“That’s the balancing act of what we’re trying to do. When we talk about defence, there are still some really good examples of some defensive strengths at Glasgow.
“When they lost the final last year, they were a top-four defence in terms of tries conceded. They’re not a top-four defence for tries conceded this year, however a lot of those tries conceded have come from turnovers as a source of possession to the opposition.
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“We need to look at that balancing act, and yes, it is difficult to be able to maintain huge focus on attack and get the other two improved, but being very open and honest, the other two do need to improve from a statistical point of view a little bit to help bolster this season’s league position for the future.”
Because of the government furlough rules, the new coach has not even been able to contact many of his players until very recently, let alone get a look at how they are faring and begin to implement what he wants. Only last week could they return to Murrayfield for voluntary conditioning sessions.
Glasgow are third in Conference A, and will complete their truncated Pro14 season with consecutive derbies against Edinburgh at Murrayfield. The first is scheduled for 22nd August, seven weeks away. Even should they take maximum points from both, it is virtually impossible for them to catch Ulster, nine points above them, and make the semi-finals, and there will not be much respite before the new season starts in earnest.
For all that Wilson longed to return to a head coach role, this is an entirely unique and deeply challenging prospect.
“I haven’t spoken before, but the first thing you do when you go into a new club is you get in front of your players and you speak to them about your research and your plans and you get their thoughts,” he said.
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“I haven’t been able to do any of that. I’ve done the research and I’ve been able to speak to the boys now in some capacity, but nowhere near as I would have wanted to speak to them. Things have been very different.
“I had had plans to spend a couple of months with Dave as a fly on the wall but that went out of the window so all my research was done from afar. That research has been done so the next stage is to get in, get in front of the players.
“We get through this first phase of voluntary conditioning – at the moment the guys have been out of proper gym conditioning for three or four months, so there is going to be a drop of muscle mass, and that muscle mass is the foundation of playing physical contact sports – but the running part is an important part as well and then we get to the rugby bit.
“The rugby bit really is a four-five-week block, all being well. So it’s a short gap where you need to be well-prepared, well-planned, it’s much shorter than a normal pre-season to try and get up to speed.”
Glasgow have long cemented themselves among the Pro14’s biggest fish, carved out a feverish niche in a city gripped by football and unstintingly sell out Scotstoun.
Rennie’s panache and intelligence took them further, but not far enough to land a trophy. There is no fanfare for Wilson in these unprecedented times, but you get the feeling he doesn’t care about that.
In his quiet, studious pragmatism, Glasgow must now place their faith.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
8 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
34 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
34 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
8 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
34 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
8 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
8 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
11 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
11 Go to comments