My Life in Rugby: Ian Davies – Cornish Pirates DoR

I wasn't as good as my old friend Scott Quinnell playing for the New Dock Stars as a youngster but I was never expecting my playing career to be over just going into my 20s.
I was 17 when I first broke my back. I came back from that but then dislocated my knee so I think somebody upstairs was telling me something.
I tried to get back again but I dislocated my knee again as well as fracture my back again so it was a pretty horrific two and a half years really.
My playing career was over but so were my plans to join the police so I went to Chichester University to study and stayed on as director of sport.
My club coaching career started with sides like Worthing and Haywards Heath while being involved in the Students set-up.
In my first Worthing spell we went from London 3 to London 1 and after two years at Haywards Heath, we made it to the National League 3 for the first time with a side that included a young Joe Marler.
While at Worthing I completed my Level 4 coaching qualification with the which made me want a full-time career. I was a chemistry teacher but I worked very hard for these coaching qualifications so I thought I might as well give it a crack.
That's when I started applying for jobs and I was lucky Chris Stirling, who had just been appointed the Pirates' high performance director at the end of the 2009 season, believed in me. He didn't look much at my playing pedigree which is quite rare in this country.
I joined the Pirates as a forwards coach initially but when Chris went back to in 2012 I took over as head coach.
He left after our defeat to Cross Keys in the British & Irish Cup semis just before the play-offs so I was thrown straight into the deep end. My first game in charge was against Bristol in the semi-finals which we won but we lost to in the final.
I was always confident in my abilities as a coach but being a nobody from made it quite difficult. But and Toby Booth, who didn't play at high level are now top coaches.
We couldn't have been promoted anyway because our stadium didn't meet the criteria. That's the first thing that needs to get sorted before we're looking to go anywhere.
Some people say having two South West teams in the Premiership is not viable but I don't agree with it at all.
Guys like Luke Cowan-Dickie or Jack Nowell are from Cornwall and they wouldn't have left if the Pirates were in the Premiership. are a flagship not only for us but all Championship clubs.
The Championship is becoming very hard and sides like Bristol and proves that. I don't think we can say we'll make the play-offs but we'll bloody a few noses. We'll have a good crack and teams will have to perform well to beat us.
It's a double-edged sword. We want to be in the top half of the table to attract sponsors and recruit well, while being in the bottom half makes you constantly look over your shoulder.
It makes for a very exciting league for the fans but as a coach it can cause a lot of headaches.

*This article was published in The Rugby Paper on July 13

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