NEW CHALLENGE IS FACING PEEL
IT’S hard to say there’s such a thing as a calm and peaceful summer in Welsh rugby, but compared to last year it’s certainly been less tumultuous for Dwayne Peel.
Last year saw the former Wales scrum-half go from being announced as Cardiff’s attack coach to rejoining his former club the Scarlets as their new head coach.
It was a long and winding road to that point – hardly ideal preparation for his first season in charge.
Peel’s first term had its moments, with some eye-pleasing attacking rugby and the emergence of young talents, but ultimately they finished 10th in the URC, missing out on Champions Cup rugby.
Peel knows better than anyone that improvements are needed ahead of his second season.
In fairness to the former Lion, you can’t accuse him of not desperately doing his best to instigate those improvements before the season starts in September. One example from the end of last season tells you that.
While a few Welsh rugby stars were in Ibiza on Liam Williams’s stag party at the end of the URC season, the Scarlets players were back in training after their final match against the Stormers.
Ospreys and Wales winger Alex Cuthbert, speaking on the RugbyPass podcast, revealed: “He’s (Peel) got them in training the last couple of weeks. They’re doing broncos, runways and lots of fitness tests before they get their time off to then come back in again.
“They weren’t allowed to come. He knew it was Sanjay’s stag and it was booked in for ages.”
In fairness to Peel, the two-week training block would also have been booked in for ages. And, quite frankly, Scarlets fans aren’t going to care all that much if things pay off on the park this season.
Instead, they’re likely fairly happy to have a coach who is solely focused on the fortunes of his team. Someone who isn’t afraid to make tough decisions to affect those fortunes, too.
Compared to his predecessors, Peel might not be as quick with an arm around the shoulder as a Brad Mooar or Glenn Delaney. He probably, in all honesty, doesn’t relish the media side of his duties as much as others.
But he clearly understands the issues that have held the Scarlets back in the last few years since their titlewinning high of 2017.
Defence is one that he’s working hard to address.
While the Scarlets are one of the most potent attacking sides in the URC, scoring 65 tries last season, they also conceded 73, and a total of 534 points. The difference in their attack and defence was stark.
As was reported before Wales’s summer tour of South Africa, Wales assistant coach Gareth Williams is set to take up a role in Peel’s ticket as defence coach, with Irishman Hugh Hogan expected to move on.
Hogan arrived from Leinster with a good reputation from Irish pundits, working with the Dublin province as a contact area skills coach. In Ireland, he earned praise for working with individuals on their tackle technique.
But a more specific one-to-one skills-based coaching role is a little different from taking charge of the defence. Clearly, it’s not worked. But Peel, it would appear, isn’t wasting time on finding a solution.
The other thing that Peel recognises is the need to shift the focus away from Welsh internationals in the squad. When the Scarlets won the PRO12 in 2017 it was largely built upon a group of uncapped regulars laying the foundations during the Test windows.
Of course, from that success most of those players then won caps. Such is the nature of Welsh rugby: once players become the property of Team Wales, the clubs arguably don’t get the same value from the player as they once did.
That’s unfortunately the price of success. Since Wayne Pivac left in 2019, the Scarlets have needed something of a reset as their Wales internationals got older.
Peel has achieved that. The likes of Ryan Conbeer, Corey Baldwin, Sam Costelow and Tom Rogers are all exciting talents in the backline, while his pack has been boosted by the emergence of solid props like Harri O’Connor and Steffan Thomas.
Young scrum-half Archie Hughes is another tipped for a big future. With a decent group of overseas players like Sam Lousi, Sione Kalamafoni, Tomas Lezana and new signing Vaea Fifita, the hope is that the Scarlets can be relatively strong from week to week.
If Peel can make some improvements in the defence, continue to cultivate the high-tempo attacking game that comes straight from his 2005 Grand Slam playbook and continue to instil a culture that puts the Llanelli side before all else, there’s cautious hope for fans to be optimistic with their young head coach.
Maybe, just maybe, they could even re-establish themselves as playoff contenders this term.