Rugby Coaching-Now we will see who is good!

I am a rugby coach. Last year with Bournemouth RFC, we were promoted to National 2 South (Level 4 of the English game). We achieved this with the countries largest ever winning margin, we won 26 out of 27 games and Rugby World Team of the Year. The reason I mention this is not to try and brag, but to highlight why I feel I am well placed to comment on this subject, having achieved all of this with an amateur squad.

Covid-19 has changed the landscape for all of our lives and in many ways rugby and its coaching is largely insignificant, when you consider the death toll, disruption, economic, strife and concerns about peoples mental health. However, this will pass and we will return to our jobs, our communities and our sport. The question is, what will we find when we get there?

Rugby is going bust, slowly but surely. We have already seen the like of Leeds Carnegie approaching administration, Newcastle have announced that they may only have a few months left if they are unable to finish their season and clubs are furloughing their players. England rugby announced a ￡50 million loss last year, Rugby Australia lost $10 million last year and has said if the season doesn't go ahead there then they will lose $120 million and USA Rugby has already gone into administration.

Saracens breaching the salary cap has seen them relegated. But what is not talked about is the financial hell most premiership clubs have put themselves in trying to compete with the flouting of the rules, that were put in place, don't forget, to try to ensure clubs didn't go bust!

Stewart Hogg is a wonderful player, guaranteed Lions starter for many, but Exeter Chiefs pay him ￡500,000 a year. In football terms its peanuts, Delli Ali earns that in a month, but for rugby this is a huge amount of money, and certainly for a club like Exeter. But they are ambitious and want to compete for the Premiership as well as in Europe, where they have yet to make a splash.

Now this article isn't about the fact that wages have nearly doubled over the last few years, mostly because of the promise of CVC investing millions. Its about what coaches do to adapt.

Last season we were playing at level 5. Yet there were still sides that had playing budgets north of ￡80,000, at Level 5!!! I spoke to one club, who told me they were showing financial restraint by getting rid of the players CARS and RETAINERS, and now the players were paid from ￡100 to ￡200 a game. That's restraint apparently at Level 5. The club got relegated this year.

At National 2 South this years champions were Taunton Titans. Good club, good squad but to gain promotion they recruited the services of Julian Salvi (Exeter Chiefs) Jack Arnott (Plymouth Albion) Dan Lee (Cornish Pirates), to name just 3. Tonbridge Juddians who were also promoted had a ￡250,000 playing budget and Henley were not too far behind. Bournemouth had zero.

Once again I am not trying to decry player payments, I think players should be recompensed for the time and effort it takes to be a good level rugby player. Rather the point is that now with clubs financially compromised, how do coaches solve the selection headache when your gun Centre is injured and you cant just go and buy another one?

Coaching! Coaching is how. Its a bit old school I know to some. But now more than ever there has to be a focus on making the players you have got better. Improving core skills, developing a culture for betterment and being able to challenge one and other to fix issues.

For me coaching at levels 3,4 and 5 is about being able to adapt an environment, to create the most professional one you can within an amateur/semi amateur environment. To do this you need to create clear effective communication, that actually is designed to improve rather than placate. To enhance understanding rather than to get out of a conversation quickly.

You also have to create depth withing your playing resources. Worthing Raiders last year didn't play a second team game until Christmas at Level 4, this has to be so detrimental, how are the guys asked to step up for injury or unavailability meant to be 'game ready' slot in seamlessly and do themselves justice, which in turn might give them the chance to retain their place.

How do you get the depth? Make training competitive, give the 'nearly men' the chance to rub shoulders and show the levels and standards required, whilst demonstrating a true player pathway, movement between the teams as well as improving their personal journey up the rugby pyramid.

We had a very talented prop, Joe Tarrant, that we were able to send to London Irish to play in their 'A' league fixtures a couple of seasons ago. He was spotted by former Wales international Adam Jones and subsequently offered a contract by Richmond. We were so proud of him and the upshot was recruitment for players became easier, even with no money, because they could see how we wanted to develop them. Also, when he returned in our promotion season, he was greeted like returning hero and was so much better than when he left.

Coaching is about balls and cones, first and foremost. Developing a game plan or even two that are challenging, rather than being a cut and paste example of what goes on at the top of the game. I cannot tell you how often when watching opposition match footage prior to games I was struck how they all seemed to want to play like Saracens or Chiefs. Of course they are very successful clubs, that get whole days and weeks to drill offence and defence. But at our level if every team plays the same way then you will cancel each other out, meaning that often it comes down to who wins the collision.

Where has the innovation gone? Trail blazers that tried different things such as Brian Ashton, Sean Edwards and more recently Scott Robertson, didn't think 'I'll just do it like the bloke before because they were successful'. They used innovative thinking to ensure players were challenged and oppositions didn't see the variety coming.

In short, rugby at all levels is going to be different after this pandemic. We may see the move towards a global season come about sooner rather than later. How would that impact on current coaching philosophies, especially if Agustin Pichot takes over World Rugby? We may see clubs fold but one thing will never change. The need to coach, the ability to enhance, to deliver interesting, challenging sessions that make players better. After all, the 'sticking plaster' coaching practice of just going and buying a better one may not be available to us. Then we really will see who is good enough.

Out of crisis comes opportunities, rugby is no different.