Tandy has the talent to muzzle Springboks
I’VE known Steve Tandy for a long, long time – ever since we started at Neath as apprentices on the same day way back when in 1998! I’m absolutely delighted for him with his callup to coach the defence for the British & Irish Lions against South Africa this summer. He will do an absolutely outstanding job.
I’m a couple of years older than Steve, but our careers went alongside each other for long periods and I count him as a good friend. I’d heard he had been given the Lions gig before it was officially announced and when I spoke to Steve last week to congratulate him, he couldn’t have been more delighted. Steve is a very humble, quiet man, but don’t let that fool you. He means business.
When I think back all those years ago to our time together at Neath, we were very nervous at the start and I remember Duncan Jones being there on the first day too. We didn’t do too badly the three of us!
What people tend to forget about Steve is that he was a great player in his own right. He was underrated in my opinion because he was very organised and a good leader.
He knew what worked in his game inside out and equally, he knew what didn’t. He was hugely committed and as an openside flanker, defence was his bread and butter.
He has transferred all those qualities into what has been a great coaching career. Steve had lots of success coaching the Ospreys and I’m sure he would have been disappointed at the way it ended. What happened next sums up to me what Steve is all about.
He’s always been someone who is willing to learn and doesn’t sulk. So, what did he do when he lost his job at the Ospreys? He went halfway round the world to challenge himself in Australia.
For me, not enough coaches from the northern hemisphere step out of their comfort zone and head down south. Steve has done that and reaped the rewards.
I bumped into him in Oita at the 2019 World Cup. He told me he had learned so much with the Waratahs because the rugby was just so different there.
I know from my career what a big call it can be to pick up sticks and move abroad and to unfamiliar surroundings so hats off to him for that.
Steve said then he’d loved Australia and you’d have to say you almost felt that would be the last we’d see of him here because it could have been a case of out of sight, out of mind. But I know he always wanted to come back to Britain. Maybe he had the Scotland job lined up then. If he did, he didn’t tell me!
If you look at the team Scotland has become, Steve has played a huge part
“Scotland’s defence was excellent in Six Nations, Steve fits the bill for Lions”
in that. Their defence was excellent in the Six Nations and he really fits the bill for the Lions.
When I look at the coaching team, they are all no-nonsense characters without any sort of ego which bodes well for the Lions. Steve, Robin McByrde and Neil Jenkins are all well known to Warren Gatland. I know from personal experience too that they’ve all got a very dry sense of humour!
Steve and Gregor Townsend are also familiar with each other from
Scotland.
We all know Warren wanted guys like Andy Farrell, Steve Borthwick and Graham Rowntree with him in South Africa, but that shouldn’t detract from the men who have been called up.
Warren is no fool. He knows a good coach when he sees one which is why he’s picked Steve. Warren can also expect Steve to challenge him – he is certainly no nodding dog.
Steve will have no problem with being a second choice and in many ways creeping in under the radar will suit him down to the ground.
When we spoke about his appointment, Steve said he felt lucky and was truly honoured to have had the call. Just like any player who goes on a Lions trip, it doesn’t matter how you end up on the plane. What matters is being there and Steve is.
He will do an outstanding job and will work with the best players in Britain. I’m sure he’ll get the defence firing for the Lions. He will have to if Gatland’s team are to beat the Springboks.