JULIAN Salvi has never been one to shy away from a good challenge. Now he is relishing his job as Georgia’s defence coach.
As a player, the Australian was fiercely competitive. He forged a career that started in Super Rugby with the Brumbies and took him to the Premiership.
In England, he featured for Bath, Leicester and finally Exeter.
Known for his fierce tackling, intelligent play at the breakdown and leadership on the field, Salvi earned a reputation as one of the most effective defensive players of his generation.
Coaching transition
After a stellar career came to a close in 2018, Salvi moved across the corridor at Sandy Park to take on the role of Exeter defence coach.
“I’m not going to lie, initially it was tough,” he said.
“I was 32 years of age and still in that mindset that I could play and do a job. It was definitely a tough crossover. But then, with time and I think Covid my mind fully twisted in terms of no more playing.
“I knew then it was all about coaching.
“That then led to successful times and trophies with the Chiefs, which was great. But then the journey ended after four years or so and an opportunity to go across to Benetton opened up. I got to experience the challenge of a different club, and being away from the family in a different environment.”
European adventure
Salvi soon settled in Italy, helping Benetton to a first-ever top eight finish in the United Rugby Championship and a semi-final in the Challenge Cup.
“I went there as a contact and breakdown specialist, but I got to work with some really important people. Calum MacRae, who was previously the defence coach at Edinburgh, was quite influential in terms of learning and seeing how a defence coach thinks and acts,” said Salvi.
“Individually, you’re picking up bits and pieces and challenging yourself in different ways whilst at the same time helping develop the careers of a number of players.
“We had something like 20 players in the international set-up at Benetton, so you could see them transform what they were doing at club level onto the international stage.”
Salvi’s efforts were not going unnoticed and it was his former Tigers boss Richard Cockerill, now head coach of the Georgian national team, who offered him his next challenge.
“I was at the back end of my second year at Benetton and about to extend when I got a phone call from Cockers,” added Salvi. “He asked if I would be interested in transferring across from Benetton into the international stage and it sort of just went from there.
“One conversation led to another and here we are now.”
Georgian rugby
Salvi has recently returned from his first international block in which Georgia faced Fiji, Japan and Australia. They lost narrowly to Fiji and Australia but recorded a win against Japan and Salvi is relishing the environment.
“I had the privilege of working with Cockers for a long time as a player and now I’m back alongside him as a coach,” said Salvi. “It’s good being alongside him, seeing his ideas and the vision he has for the team.
“I’m enjoying being back under his tutelage and working with him and the players.”
Salvi mentions that it can be a challenge to translate the coaches’ philosophy to a group of Georgians whose rugby know-how is still somewhat raw in places.
“I experienced the language barrier a bit during my time in Italy, but we’re lucky we’ve got a few players in the squad who can speak English,” explained Salvi.
“They help you get your message across, although sometimes your message gets a bit lost in translation. The biggest thing I guess is the rugby intellect and that game understanding, which is part of my role.
“I’ve been brought in to help add that layer of detail and understanding to their game, because they don’t lack the physicality and their passion for the sport.
“It’s in those finer details, when you have those moments of drawing breath, that you can reduce doing those back-to-back errors that can ultimately hurt you.”
Future challenges
Moving forward, Salvi will be part of the domestic Black Lions coaching set-up for an upcoming competition which sees them tackle teams from across Europe.
They will also feature in the European Challenge Cup later in the year.
After that it will be back onto the Test stage in November when Georgia have big tests against the New Zealand Maori in France and Italy in Genoa.
Their final game of the year is an exciting home clash with Tonga in Tbilisi.
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