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What Bristol have made of ex-All Black John Afoa as a rookie coach

By Liam Heagney
Bristol's John Afoa. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Bristol have come in for much scrutiny following their slow start results-wise to the new Gallagher Premiership season, but one area Pat Lam isn’t finding fault with is the impact that John Afoa is making in his first campaign as a rookie scrum coach. The 2011 All Blacks World Cup winner hasn’t yet retired as a player – the 38-year-old recently returned off the bench at Newcastle following a calf injury and is available for selection this Saturday at London Irish.

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The 2021/22 season hasn’t all been about Afoa regaining his fitness, though, as it was decided last April that the New Zealander, who won 36 caps before heading to play club rugby in Europe in 2011, was confirmed as the scrum coach successor at Bristol to Alasdair Dickinson, a role he would take on alongside his playing commitments.

The Bears finished the last term on top of the Premiership only for them to get beaten in the semi-finals at home to Harlequins, and they have now started the new season sluggishly with just one win from five matches leaving them in twelfth place in the 13-team division.

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What happened when RugbyPass went behind the scenes at Pat Lam’s Bristol Bears

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What happened when RugbyPass went behind the scenes at Pat Lam’s Bristol Bears

Afoa, who signed a one-year extension as a player in March, hasn’t had to do much on the pitch, however. Injury has limited him to just 21 minutes in the games so far, but he has been busy on the training ground trying to ensure that the Bristol scrum is primed as much as it can be in his absence from the team. Lam has enjoyed what he has seen.

“He is a very experienced player, obviously,” said the coach to RugbyPass when asked how Afoa was faring his transition into coaching. “He is 38 now, he has achieved what a lot of people can only dream of achieving but it is not just that, it is him as a person.

“He has got unbelievable respect in this team, unbelievable knowledge, so he is an ideal coach in that sense. And he runs our mentor programme with Joe Joyce and Gethin Watts from the senior academy. He has got that heart to help people so it [coaching] is an easy transition for him.

“What he is doing it on is a subject that he loves, the scrummaging. He has a lot of knowledge but it’s not just that, it is the way that he does his one-to-ones, his presentations, he is doing really well. He is going to be a phenomenal coach in my opinion.”

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john 17 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 2 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

13 Go to comments
T
Trevor 4 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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