The days of reckoning for rugby coaches are upon us as clubs, regions and their backers start to start to compare the win-loss ledger with the budgets that were given. Gareth Hughes says rugby is going down a familiar road taken by other sports.
Given the ridiculous opprobrium heaped on Warren Gatland when he revealed the British and Irish Lions squad last week, it does beg the question, ‘Who would want to be a rugby coach?’, particularly at the pinnacle of the game.
Sackings, political chicanery and leaving before being pushed are now part and parcel of the game. Certainly, the financial recompense would be an inducement but the lack of job security, stress and public criticism has to be a consideration.
Although, thankfully, no coach has talked about it being ‘his project’, it is clear that they all crave the chance to have sufficient time to be allowed to make a difference. But, the caveat appears to be that time is definitely finite and last season’s performance counts for very little if there isn’t a significant improvement, so do not rely on your contract.
Rugby coaches used to be developed from within clubs, learning their trade with the lower sides before being entrusted with the 1stXV.
This was certainly the route to the top taken by the excellent Rob Baxter at Exeter Chiefs, but how many clubs are following that example?
Around the game there now appears to be a belief that a new coach is needed as soon as performance dips below expectations. Those expectations might not come from supporters, but, more often than not, the owners, benefactors or shareholders. It appears they now often consider they have no choice, they simply have to react.
The panacea appears to be to employ a coach from the all-conquering southern hemisphere and watch them magically weave a winning side. This has heralded the arrival of the ‘super coach’, paid a huge salary, given access to a large playing budget and the demand that training facilities are upgraded.
Then, there are the layers of specialist coaches; attack, defence, scrum, lineout and even an ‘exit’ coach and that is before the need for a sports science department and medical staff.
Naturally, for all that outlay, investors are going to want to see a return. Coaches stand or fall based on the quality of their results.
Mike Ford, for one, suffered from that requirement at Toulon, having been released last year by Bath. In the Aviva Premiership, Leicester, Bristol and Gloucester have all made changes mid-season in their coaching staff in a desperate bid to improve results.
Not all these situations were handled with the skill and empathy that the game likes to think it has. The Guinness Pro12 has seen two coaches move on so far this season – at Edinburgh and Zebre. Other clubs, regions and provinces will wait and take stock at the end of the season when explanations for underachievement will be sought.
Rugby clubs are expensive to run and it is very rare to be able to turn a profit but the intertwining of money and sport is now an unwelcome but established fact.
Success should not be down to money alone, but across all of the European leagues it all too often the biggest determining factor. For a long time, rugby has prided itself as very different to football. But, now it is much harder to see any difference; foreign players and coaches are omnipresent, vast TV deals for the Top14 and the Premiership mean that they have moved ahead of most of the teams in the Pro12 and the game is now very much a business.
Supporters can hark back to the good old days, but if any club/region/province wants to do more than survive then investment will be needed.
This means that a rugby coach’s job security at the top level is not watertight. In Wales, as the Pro12 season shudders to a climax the coaches and players of the Ospreys, Scarlets and Cardiff Blues all have something to play for, both on and off the field.
Those head coaches will know that if things do not go well questions will be asked. In so many respects this is unfair when you consider the resources they are up against.
In that light, when judgement can mean sackings and instability, then the case for investment in the regions becomes ever more urgent.
The pressure is constant, relentless and all the coaches deserve to be given a break, some level of understanding. But decent results are the main weapons they have to defend themselves.
The man with the hardest task among the four regions has to be Kingsley Jones, at Newport Gwent Dragons, as he takes what must be a deflated team to Edinburgh.
He will be well aware of how uncertainty saps at the morale of a squad and with all of the speculation circling Rodney Parade it may be extremely difficult to motivate the players in Scotland.
On the other hand, they know that they are playing for their futures wherever that may lie.
Danny Wilson must be desperate to ensure that the Blues get five points against the hapless Zebre, to maintain the form they displayed in crushing the Ospreys and at last showing some much-needed consistency.
The Blues can still challenge for sixth place in the table, but, realistically, it’s more important to have some good form going into the Champions Cup play-offs.
Wayne Pivac at the Scarlets has a formidable task in taking his team to Connacht. The hosts will be emotionally up for this game, Pat Lam’s last home fixture in charge, and with their own European future to consider.
But, the Scarlets, despite the loss of the totemic James Davies at No.7, will be confident of being able to do a job, and make it even harder for the Ospreys when they come to Parc y Scarlets next Saturday.
Steve Tandy undoubtedly faces a severe examination of his coaching credentials as they face an Ulster team who will most definitely fancy their chances.
The Ospreys’ loss of form and meek surrender to the Blues will have been taxing Tandy and his team for the last two weeks as a season that carried the promise of glory has proven to be illusory.
He must be hoping that the Ospreys rediscover their confidence and abilities in an effort to seek redemption for the series of damaging defeats they have endured.
If they do not, and lose for the fifth successive game, then the match the following week at the Scarlets becomes one a defining one for the team.
Coaching futures might well be decided over the coming week. All know their tenure can come to an end following a run of bad results and they also know the frustration of having little influence once the whistle goes.
It does make you wonder who would be a rugby coach.