Phil Davies denies it's jobs for the 'boyos' with Welsh hires
Namibia coach Phil Davies believes his decision to enlist two coaches from Welsh club rugby to help prepare the Rugby World Cup minnows to face the might of pool opponents New Zealand and South Africa is based on logic rather than jobs for the “boyos”.
Former Wales No8 Davies, in his fifth year as the Namibia head coach, has a pool of just 900 players to choose from and all but a handful are full-time professionals – playing outside the country. The rest of the Namibian squad fit in training around their working lives which means their coaches have to understand the different demands and pressures on the players who pull on the blue jersey as the lowest-ranked nation at the World Cup in Japan.
That is why Davies has appointed two coaches from the semi-professional Welsh Premiership – Merthyr’s Dale McIntosh and Mark Jones, who has just quit as RGC 1404 head coach – to look after defence and attack respectively in a Namibian coaching team that faces the daunting task of preparing the players to take on New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and Canada. In the lead up to those matches, Namibia will have two home warm-up games with the Southern Kings Pro14 outfit.
Given Namibia’s record in previous Rugby World Cups is 0-19, Davies is not having to deal with the pressure of massive expectation but he is convinced that the recent win over Uruguay proves his players are developing an ability to deliver on the big stage and the target is to register that first-ever Cup win in Japan. It means the final Pool B fixture against Canada – only two places above 23rd ranked Namibia – on October 13 could be the biggest day in the African nation’s rugby history.
Ironically, Canada are coached by Kingsley Jones – another Welshman – adding yet more interest to the fixture back in the Principality. So, why did Davies choose former Welsh flanker McIntosh, who acted as hotel security for various teams in Wales at the 2015 World Cup, and 47-cap Jones, whose RGC team is based in Colwyn Bay in North Wales?
He told RugbyPass: “Dale will do the defence and Mark will do the attack and Jaco Engels ( 15 caps for Namibia) will do the set piece work while my job is to look after the selection and the game plan. That is the hub of the management for the World Cup. Dale has had a lot of success with Merthyr and the key thing is that he has coached Cardiff Blues academy, Wales U18 and worked with me as defence coach at the Blues. The reason I wanted Dale is that he has coached across the spectrum – young players, semi-pro and also fully pro guys. That is going to be very important because that is how the Namibian squad is made up.
Johann Tromp of Namibia is tackled by Richard Stewart of Spain during the international rugby match between Spain and Namibia at Estadio Central on November 17, 2018 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
“We have young players who have been in Super rugby academies, semi-professionals who work and 60 per cent of the squad will be from that demographic. It’s not a case of bringing Dale in because I knew him, it’s because he is a great cultural architect and will fit really well with the way we work.
“In Mark and Dale we have two really good coaches who the players will really enjoy working with. I know what Mark can bring and like Dale he has coached across the spectrum with Wales, Scarlets and RGC and he understands the mixture of young guys and semi-pros as well. We also have a strength and conditioning group headed by Wayne Proctor (ex-Wales) with really good Namibian guys working closely with him.
Having enjoyed success at the senior and U20 level in recent weeks, Namibia head coach Phil Davies pays tribute to the team's state-of-the-art high performance centre 🏋 pic.twitter.com/gwCsIrP9IK
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) September 4, 2018
“During the course of the time I have been in Namibia we have tried to grow a coaching team and that was part of the strategic plan after the 2015 Cup where we had a Namibian defence and attack coaches and team manager but people move on. We now have a high-performance centre and we try to bring the best available people in and Mark and Dale will transfer skills and knowledge to help build for the future. I have spent five years trying to create a platform for not only this World Cup but also the next one in France.
“There are experienced coaches with the dominant teams in the domestic league which only has seven teams and that needs to grow to ten. I would like to see Namibia create a ten-year plan and grown a national academy from the high-performance centre. There is a great foundation in place.”
Davies has tried to increase the number of fully professional players in his squad but has been turned down by players such as Windhoek born Anton Bresler, the Worcester Warriors lock. He explained: “We spoke to Worcester’s Anton Bresler, Divan Rossouw at the Bulls and Michal Haznar at the Griquas and for one reason or another they are not available and that’s fine. You have to respect that.
“With less than 900 players who play domestic rugby in Namibia, to make the World Cup finals is an amazing testimony to this group of players. We have grown from an average age of 31 at the last World Cup to just over 24 this time but we have more test caps. While the scoreboard hasn’t been kind to us when we have taken part in SuperSport game in South Africa we have learnt a lot. We need to use that knowledge to be a competitive as possible in all the pool games.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
1 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to comments