Williams: Some people may think I’m crazy but switch to Scarlets feels right
Gareth Williams is comfortable he has made the right decision leaving the Wales coaching team and is confident he can help fire the Scarlets to success.
More than a few eyebrows were raised when Williams opted to leave Wayne Pivac's backroom team just over a year out from the Rugby World Cup to become Scarlets defence coach. Williams joins a new-look coaching team in Llanelli headed by Dwayne Peel which includes New Zealand World Cup winner Owen Franks, and former Wales hooker Emyr Phillips.
And he insists Peel's vision for success in West Wales was the deciding factor in opting out of coaching at the World Cup.
“Leaving the Wales job was a very difficult choice to make, and I didn't arrive at this decision lightly,” said the 40-year-old. “I'm aware some people will probably say it's a crazy decision to leave an international job so close to the World Cup, but this move feels right. I'm confident Wales will go on to have success over the next year and the tour in South Africa was a big step in the right direction.
“I've coached at international level with the U20s, Wales Sevens, and the senior Wales side since 2008, and I felt coaching at club level on a day-to-day basis was the right thing for my development.
“Dwayne is creating a great culture at the Scarlets, and I think we are going to start reaping the rewards of that this season.
“He's not afraid to make difficult decisions and has put a lot of faith in young home-grown talent, while the brand of rugby he wants us to play is exciting. I love being on the pitch, working with players, working with other coaches, and trying to work problems out.”
During his time with Wales, Williams was a contact skills coach focusing mainly on the breakdown but his brief at the Scarlets will be far wider, encompassing the whole defensive system. The extra responsibility was another reason Williams opted to head west but his new role will also come with more pressure.
The Scarlets are one of the most potent attacking sides in the United Rugby Championship scoring 65 tries last season, but they conceded 73, a total of 534 points.
“I've been watching the matches from last season back, and there were two patterns to the season,” he said. “Things like not receiving the kick-off put the defence under a hell of a lot of pressure straight away after scoring points.
“There's a number of factors but a lot of it is being able to work in small units, the tight five elements of the defence, and the technical side of things.
“I think that we will have massive gains from a systematic point of view this season. The exciting part is the intellect within that squad with players like Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams from a defensive point of view is really exciting. There's no doubt about it though that our defence will need to be a lot better if we are going to kick on this season.”
The Scarlets finished 10th in the URC last season but Williams is confident they can make the play-offs this time around. “We are confident we can take a significant step forward this season and compete in the URC play-offs while also going deep into the Challenge Cup,” he said. “The whole target is making the latter end of competitions then regrouping and going again. We've got some tremendous young players coming through.
“We saw how Jac Price came through last season, Joe Roberts getting an opportunity along with Tommy Rogers, and Ryan Conbeer pushing through.
“We've got some excellent overseas players here as well like Sione Kalamafoni and Sam Lousi while I am really excited about working with Vaea Fifita.”
