The obsessive coming to Scarlets: 'He just eats mince and rice in a cubby hole in his locker room'
Ben Franks’ appointment as Scarlets scrum coach was met with a shrug of indignation in some quarters of West Wales, and with a hop, skip and a jump in other places earlier this week. Even though locally reared Richard Kelly was still promoted to forwards coach from an academy role at the region, there was disquiet that Ioan Cunningham – a highly regarded young coach – had exited stage-door right without explanation after nine years.
Many high profile figures, including ex-Ospreys and Bristol coach Sean Holley, bemoaned the lack of a pathway for young Welsh coaches, which is understandable given there are no indigenous directors of rugby or head coaches operating at any of the four Welsh regions. Toby Booth (Ospreys) and Dean Ryan (Dragons) are English, new Scarlets boss Glenn Delaney is from New Zealand and John Mulvihill (Cardiff Blues) is Australian.
There was no doubt that Cunningham, an abrasive back row in his Llanelli playing days, was a pivotal part in the renaissance of the region that won the Guinness PRO12 title in 2017 under Wayne Pivac and reached the Heineken Champions Cup semi-final in 2018, a feat not managed by a Welsh region since Cardiff in 2009.
Yet with Brad Mooar, the wildly popular head coach heading back to New Zealand to take his place on the Ian Foster-led All Blacks ticket, it has been left to his fellow Kiwi Delaney to rebuild a coaching team fit to challenge for the PRO14 whenever it resumes.
Delaney has history with Franks having worked with him at London Irish in 2016 and the Christchurch native’s experience in a stellar 14-year career has seen him mix almost exclusively in the upper echelons of the game. The tighthead’s achievements include a World Cup in 2015 and two Super Rugby championships with the Crusaders in 2006 and 2008.
What exactly is a squad which boasts five Welsh internationals in their front row alone – Samson Lee, Ken Owens, Rob Evans, Wyn Jones and Ryan Elias – getting? One man who has spent the last few seasons seeing Franks work at close-quarters is Tom Wood, the 51-cap England international.
“I definitely thought Ben was a coach-in-waiting when I was playing with him,” said Wood to RugbyPass. “People talk about discipline and setting standards but he took it to a whole new level. He’s very serious so his biggest challenge will be how he relates to the boys and gets his messages across, but in terms of his knowledge of the scrum and professionalism, I don’t think there is anyone better.”
The brother of two-time World Cup winner Owen, Franks has a gym in Christchurch eponymously called Franks Brothers Gym where his prodigious strength has seen him squatting 300kgs. It has led to S&C staff at Northampton giving him a free rein.
“They don’t write programmes for him. They don’t give him any nutrition advice. Most players are being told exactly what to eat, down to the single calorie. Ben does all that himself. He owns a gym back in New Zealand and has a natural enthusiasm for training.”
In a relatively short space of time there, Franks’ attention-to-detail became legendary at Franklin’s Gardens. “I used to take the mickey out of him. I’d say, ‘What’s for lunch, mate?’ because he doesn’t eat with the rest of the boys. He just eats mince and rice in a cubby hole in his locker room. He has his own Tupperware box weighed down to the exact calorie that he needs to fuel himself. He’ll prep and plan months in advance.”
When it comes mapping out the rigid day’s training, Wood said that Franks ploughed his own furrow while making sure he chatted about the nuances of scrummaging with Saints forward coaches Phil Dowson and Matt Ferguson. “Even if we’re due to in at 11am, he’ll be in at 7am regardless, doing his weights. He’s an early riser, up around 5/6am so when everyone else is training in the afternoon, he’ll be having a coffee or doing some more scrum prep!”
Despite this rigorous approach to rugby, the ex-England back row insisted Franks can switch off. “He likes his welding and hunting and sometimes if I need some cheap labour, something heavy lugged about, I’ll ask him. He is funny and like many Kiwis, he has this dry sense of humour. His brother Owen is a more light-hearted laid-back version of him.”
As for the challenges that will await in West Wales, Wood reckoned the transition from poacher to gamekeeper will be the most difficult. “I don’t think he will be nervous but it is a challenge moving from being player to a coach.
The end of a massive career for Ben Franks will be at @SaintsRugby ? #AllBlacks #GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/EVZZzp6cxl
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 25, 2020
“Every player has the answers when they are playing and will critique everything a coach says but when you are given the reins as a coach you realise how hard it is. You are trying to keep everybody happy and do the best for the team.”
As for his suitability in his transition to coaching, Wood said the 47-cap All Black is ready for the next step. “Ben is somebody who thinks deeply about leadership and high-performance having played under the likes of Chris Boyd, Graham Henry and Steve Hansen.
“Like a lot of scrummagers he’s not a gregarious type, but if he is largely dealing with forwards I don’t think anyone will question his work ethic or his knowledge of the scrum. He’s gone through his career questioning every coach he has played with so now is his time to see if he can do better.”
As Wood waits to see if the suspended 2019/20 Premiership campaign reignites, Franks will see the move to West Wales as a learning experience. A chance to test to himself. “He has a strong philosophy on how to get the best from people and the standards he expects. He is considered in his approach. He doesn’t talk a load of s***, basically. He’ll sit quietly and take it all in but when he speaks, people listen. Hopefully that will translate into coaching.”
By the sounds of it, the Scarlets have snagged themselves a meticulous planner and obsessive trainer. Time will tell if he can help stir the next era.
Comments on RugbyPass
Well that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
2 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
2 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
2 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
19 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
19 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to comments