Davies joins Worcester

Davies joins Worcester Rugby coach’s expertise in demand Namibia is lucky to have secured the service of rugby coach Phil Davies, who has been appointed as consultant at two overseas clubs. WORCESTERNNEWS.CO.UK



Namibia’s senior rugby team coach, Phil Davies, has joined Aviva Premiership strugglers Worcester Warriors on a “short-term secondment”.

The 53-year-old Welsh coach has been brought on board by Warriors head coach Carl Hogg.

Davies, who was the Warriors’ forwards coach between 2010 and 2012, watched on as Worcester suffered a dismal 28-20 defeat at fellow strugglers Bristol on Boxing Day.

It is the first time the Warriors have brought in a coaching consultant since Jim McKay was involved in the build-up to the Championship playoffs in the 2014/15 season.

McKay, a former Australia attack coach, was introduced by then Six Ways director of rugby Dean Ryan.

Hogg said: “Phil has come on board as a coaching consultant and we did something similar a couple of years ago with Jim McKay.

“Phil is somebody I have known for a long time and worked with.

“He is somebody I trust implicitly and he gives me some support and an independent view. He’s on a short-term secondment,” he said.

Davies, a former Cardiff Blues and Scarlets coach, was also in the stands as the Warriors slipped to a 22-7 defeat at Newport Gwent Dragons in the European Challenge Cup earlier this month.

Hogg added that he will use experienced Davies as a “sounding board”.

Hogg also mentioned that Davis would help point out what the Warriors are “missing” and “need to focus on” in training.

“Phil is someone I worked with at Leeds a long time ago and we took a young group through the Premiership and got up to fifth or sixth,” said Hogg, whose side are two points off bottom club Bristol after losing 28-20 at their relegation rivals on Boxing Day.

“He has run the course before and will be a very good sounding board for me.

“He knows the surroundings here, the people and has got 25 years of experience as a coach in the Premiership.

“Essentially he will look at our training and our content so is there anything specifically we are missing and anything we need to focus on?

“Sometimes when you are operating week in week out it is good to have an external point of view.

“Phil is here for the next month or so and then we will review it off the back of that.”