There’ll be no kick-and-hope on my watch, says Mulvihill
DERBYSHIRE, in reply to Glamorgan’s first innings total of 283 all out, ended the second day of the Specsavers Division Two County Championship match at St Helen’s in Swansea on 207 for three, a deficit of 76.
Glamorgan were indebted to Andrew Salter and the tail-enders, who added 108 in the pre-lunch session, with Salter scoring an unbeaten 72, and the debutant Prem Sisodiya a useful 38. Sisodiya should have been dismissed on 24, but Alex Hughes dropped a simple catch at short leg.
The eighth-wicket pair put on 56 – the third successive half century stand in the innings – before Sisodiya was bowled by Tony Palladino, giving the Derbyshire seamer figures of 5-69, his third five-for against the Welsh county.
Lukas Carey then struck a breezy 28, which included two sixes hoisted on to the adjoining Mumbles Road, and when last man Michael Hogan was run out, Salter had scored his runs from103 balls, which included seven fours and two sixes.
Derbyshire had eight overs to bat before lunch and at the interval, the visitors had reached 28 without loss, with Ben Slater and Harvey Hosein the not out batsmen.
Slater and Hosein – playing in his first championship game of the season – played watchfully against an accurate Glamorgan attack, with Hosein fortunate to survive some uneasy moments against Hogan, who passed the outside edge four times in one over.
Slater reached a composed half-century, while Hosein, who scored 35, played on to Salter’s off-spin in the 34th over.
Salter then took his second wicket in the following over, when Slater holed out at backward point.
Resuming after tea on 104-2, Wayne Madsen and Alex Hughes frustrated the Glamorgan attack as they continued to chip away at the deficit.
Madsen departed to Jack Murphy’s first Championship wicket, but Hughes reached 67 not out before the close of play.
I would like us to go into every game wanting to win. Whether it’s Saracens away or one of the local teams here, I will be preparing a team to win every game. If we play as well as we possibly can, we will be happy.
Q: You’ve put a young Welsh coaching team around you. What was your thinking there?
A: I had the opportunity to bring in anyone I wanted, but I was also thinking about not only how we develop the players but also the coaches here as well. So I asked the WRU to identify a number of coaches with ability. Jason Strange is excited about stepping up to the role. I have had meetings with him this week about the little changes we will make in our game to make us better.
Tom Smith is a very bright coach and the feedback I had on Duane Goodfield was that he’s a really good young coach, while Richard Hodges has brought some real strides in with the defence.
It’s about supporting and challenging the young coaches to make them better.
Q: What about the goldfish bowl of Welsh rugby, the scrutiny from the media and the public? Are you ready for all that?
A: I am expecting if we don’t play that well, I am going to get belted!
But I’ll also expect if we do play well that people will be happy.
Look, you are not going to win every game.
We want to go out to perform and win every game, but chances are that’s not going to happen. If we play well and are beaten by a better team on the day, we can accept that and I am sure our supporters will.
It’s the performances where you don’t play well and get beaten in a game you should win, they are the ones that are going to be really tough. Also, we will win some matches and I will be filthy about it because we didn’t stick to the game-plan or play as well as we could have.
For me, it’s about the detail in every performance. If you celebrate too much on a good win or commiserate too much on a loss, you are going to lose the focus of the next game.
These games come very quickly and if you have still got a hangover – win or loss – from the previous Saturday, you are going to lose one or two days in preparation and miss your opportunity going forward.
I have been around long enough to understand that.
Q: How do you see your relationship with the Wales set-up?
A: I met with Warren Gatland a few weeks ago and we talked about Jarrod Evans, who had a really good six months. He would like to see him have a good year. For me, the development of guys like Jarrod is going to be very important.
There is a really good crop of young players here. I want as many of our players as possible to be in the red jersey.
At the start of this year, we had four, where the Scarlets had 10. Making Cardiff better ultimately has to help Welsh rugby.
Q: What did you make of your Champions Cup draw, with Saracens, Glasgow and Lyon your group opponents?
A: I didn’t mind what pool we were in, it’s just great to be there.
We haven’t been in the Champions Cup for about five years, so it’s fantastic we are back in there on the back of some good performances last season.
We are back to where we need to be and it’s my role to make sure we stay there. We are excited to be back in that kind of rugby.
Each of those teams will bring different challenges, but with the pool we are in, we are quite happy where we are.
Q: Who were your sporting heroes growing up?
A: It was probably the Chappell brothers, Ian and Greg. They were massive, because cricket is a big thing over in Australia.
Q: Who is the best rugby player you have ever worked with?
A: The two that would stand out would be Matt Giteau and David Pocock, just because of their work ethic, their detail, the energy they bring and the difference they can make in teams.
Q: Which coach have you admired most over the years?
A: Alec Evans, who used to work here, was my mentor coach. He took me through a lot of my development work. I was also lucky enough to work with Alan Jones, the former Wallaby coach, so between those two guys the detail I have learned from them has been really important for me.