Jon Newcombe catches up with coach Anthony Posa after a groundbreaking season
Serial winner Anthony Posa admits last season's heroics in club, international and student rugby will be almost impossible to beat.
Posa masterminded Sheffield's promotion to National Two North, having joined the club midway through the year from Barnsley, who he had taken to the top of the Yorkshire 3 table with 12 wins from 12.
The former full-back, of Kiwi/Croatian descent, also led the University of Sheffield to promotion and they are now just two levels below the BUCS Super League. To top it all off, a Posacoached Croatia won Rugby Europe Conference 1 South and next season the red and whites will play at their highest-ever level under the current structure.
“I had a pretty good year last year and it's nice to also enjoy the good times,” he said.
“But I am a realist, I know Croatia will struggle, Sheffield will probably go up and face obstacles. All my teams have gone up a level so there are different challenges now. But there is more to rugby than just winning. As long as we keep learning and the players enjoy their rugby, I'll be happy.”
In over 20 years of coaching, Posa, below, has been no stranger to success having helped Beverley and Doncaster Phoenix to climb the Yorkshire leagues and Biggar to improve their standing in Scottish club rugby.
But Sheffield RUFC's promotion will see him come up against Rotherham, the one club where things did not work out for him.
Posa was brought in by the Titans on the eve of the 2019/20 National 1 season but was sacked at Christmas after 10 defeats in his 15 games in charge.
To give the reunion even more of an edge, Posa's opposite number is the man he replaced at Abbeydale – Adam Byron.
Fittingly, the first encounter between the teams is on November 5 but Posa has played down the prospect of fireworks.
“Coincidence of all coincidences, Rotherham had issues and they ended up signing the Sheffield coach, and the first guy they went looking for to replace him was me.
“I know the Rotherham coach, he's a good guy, and neither of us will want it to be about us. Stating the obvious, Rotherham are the Goliath and we are the David, so they will be huge favourites.
“I'll be honest, I had a cheeky little look (at the fixtures), of course,” he added. “But we have got other big fixtures, Sheffield Tigers is a massive one for us.
National 2 North has eight Yorkshire teams, which is absolutely fantastic for Yorkshire rugby. We will be perceived as easy-beats and my job is to make sure we are not easy-beats.”
Posa went to Rotherham after a short spell playing at Bradford & Bingley.
“Because I'd been successful for quite a long time, I had quite a few clubs interested in me and Rotherham were the highest up the league so I went to them.
“It was late in the picture so I didn't actually sign any players so I found it tough from the word go. I'm not saying it was the players' fault, I just didn't have the same affinity with them as if I'd have signed them.
“I was putting weight on, I couldn't sleep, I was blaming myself for everything. Every time I tried something I was hitting my head against the wall.
“What I will say is Rotherham is a great club, the people who support the club are a great bunch. There is no ill will, a lot of coaches and clubs break up all of the time.
“The crazy thing for me was when I left Rotherham instead of having five or six clubs after me, no one wanted me. Memories are short. It didn't matter that I'd won everything in two decades, I was the guy that relegated Rotherham.
“I just needed to coach after Rotherham. I coached Sheffield Uni, coached Croatia and I will forever be grateful to Barnsley for giving me the opportunity to coach them.”
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