What David Pocock did with his first paycheck and where the Cardiff Blues went wrong last year
Of all the young players that John Mulvihill has helped nurture in his 21 years as a coach, David Pocock is the one who has made the Cardiff Blues boss most proud.
Not merely because of his 71 Test caps for Australia or reputation as one of the finest players of his generation. No, Mulvihill’s pride stems as much from acts the Wallabies back-row has performed away from the pitch as on it.
One anecdote the Blues head coach proudly relays relates to a time when an 18-year-old Pocock won a man-of-the-match award playing for the Western Force, and with it a cheque for $1,000.
“What would you do with 1,000 bucks?” Mulvihill asks RugbyPass half-rhetorically. Few players at that age would have even pondered what Pocock decided to do with his bonus.
Instead of depositing it behind a bar or into a savings account, the future Wallabies captain headed to a discount department store in the city. There, he bought 20 $50 sleeping bags.
“He threw them in his car, drove round Perth,” Mulvihill picks up the story.
“He got out of his car and saw a guy on the side of the street, and said ‘listen mate, I hope this will help you feel a bit more protected and safe and what-have-you’. He did that.”
By the time he decided to call it a night all 20 of the sleeping bags had been handed out to Perth’s homeless. It is not Mulvihill’s only memory of Pocock’s philanthropy, he proceeds to recount the time the pair and their Force colleagues went to hand out rugby kit at a school in Africa.
Denied entry to the school, the group instead decided to throw the balls and jerseys over the wall. Such anecdotes highlight the values that the coach holds dear, those he aims to instil at the Blues.
“Just little things like that make you think that if you can do something to make someone a little bit happier in life that’s brilliant,” he says.
“For me, I want the boys to have an understanding that yeah, we’re in our little world here but there’s so much stuff going on outside that we need be aware of a little bit.
“Giving your time is free, we’re not asking you to give 100 bucks, we’re asking you to give some time.”
To that end Mulvihill accompanied players from the academy on a visit to a homeless shelter in Cardiff city centre in July to help serve meals to those in need. He intends it not to be a one-off.
“We’ll hopefully get a Christmas drive going and a few other things to get them to understand that it’s not just about (results),” he explains. “We lost a game last weekend (against Leinster), it’s not the end of the world. We got a couple of points.”
Revealing what he told his players following that opening night defeat to Leinster, Mulvihill’s first competitive match at the Cardiff Arms Park, he adds: “I said to them ‘walk out of this room, stand tall, have a smile on your face, go out there and say hello to people.
“Because they supported you tonight and you put on a great show. We didn’t get what we wanted but we did get something out of it, and we’ve got our season started. That will be the same message throughout the year. I think the Cardiff Blues fans get it.”
Maintaining a close relationship with supporters is integral to Mulvihill’s plans in Cardiff. “We talked about us being in a little bit of a privileged position doing this as a job,” he says.
“The fans, they work all week and take money out of their pockets to buy season tickets and to come along to support. I always say to the boys that things like saying please and thank you and having a smile, those things are free.”
Mulvihill’s team has not made the start to the season he would have hoped for, defeat to Treviso following their one-point loss to Leinster. But he is determined to provide stability at a region that had changed coaches with alarming regularity in the four years before Danny Wilson was appointed in 2015.
The Australian’s ambitious targets this season include reaching the PRO14 play-offs and winning at least two matches in the Champions Cup. “We have to be minimum third, second, first (in Conference A) so we can then put ourselves in the picture to play finals rugby,” he says.
More long-term he wants to build on the good Wilson did, while producing future Wales players and developing a homegrown coach who will be ready to take over when the time comes for him to step down.
Mulvihill made a start on the coaching front before he even arrived in Wales. Having canvassed the opinions of Geraint John, the Welsh Rugby Union’s (WRU) head of rugby performance, WRU Group chief executive Martyn Phillips and his counterpart at the Blues, Richard Holland, he decided to bring in Tom Smith and Jason Strange.
In a subsequent move Richard Hodges, retained from Wilson’s reign alongside Duane Goodfield, was promoted to a senior role in which he effectively takes charge of first-team matters when Mulvihill is otherwise engaged.
“Probably where the Cardiff Blues let themselves down a little bit last year, was that they were under-resourced in coaching,” he explains.
“You had Danny (Wilson), Jockey (Goodfield) and Hodgey (Richard Hodge), and when you have 40-50 players out there, it’s pretty hard for three people to do it. Particularly if Danny got called away for other things.”
“Those guys work well together,” Mulvihill says of his current back-room team. “I would hope to think that in five years’ time that one of those guys is ready to step up.”
Going forward do not be surprised if Sam Warburton is added to that roster in some capacity. “We want him to be in and around the group,” Mulvihill admits. “We haven’t seen him a hell of a lot since he’s left but we’ll get him in from time to time.
“He seems to be a very busy man now. Off the field he is probably more busy than when he was playing, and good on him.”
Warburton isn’t the only busy man in the Cardiff area. Mulvihill has been working long days since arriving at the Blues in June, getting to his office at The Vale at 6.30am every morning and sometimes not getting home until 9pm if he has a meeting or commitment in the city.
He has assured his wife, who is in the process of leaving their four grown-up daughters at home to move to south Wales, that things will get easier now the season is under way.
Mulvihill doesn’t seem certain those words will prove accurate. “I just think that the first impression you have on someone could be the only impression they have,” he says. “So you really need to work on that it’s a positive one.”
In Mulvihill’s case, the initial impression has been an encouraging one.
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments