GLOBE-TROTTING KIWI’S HOPES FOR SUCCESS AT SCARLETS
WHEN the Scarlets next step on to the field, the man in charge will be Glenn Delaney.
The 46-year-old fatherof-four is taking over as head coach from fellow Kiwi Brad Mooar, who is heading home this weekend to join the All Blacks set-up.
So just who is Delaney and what are his plans for the team, now he has stepped up from his defensive brief to the top job?
We caught up with him and discovered someone with a fascinating back story and a real passion for the game of rugby.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your background in New Zealand?
A: Well, I was born in a place called Timaru, which is in south Canterbury.
My dad was a copper. He was in the police and mum was off a farm.
I’m from a police family originally and that’s how I first came across Steve Hansen, who was a young copper in Christchurch.
I’ve come to know him well from my time as a player and a coach over the years.
I remember him as a pretty dynamic coach when he was first cutting his teeth in his club rugby days and there was certainly something going on. Then he went into the Canterbury set-up pretty early on and off he went.
I have kept in touch with him right from the off and he has been fabulous for my rugby education, along with guys like Wayne Smith and Mike Cron. If I ever had anything on my mind, I could ask them and they are so willing and free with their advice.
Q: How did you start out as a player?
A: I was at a school called St Andrews College in Christchurch and I came through the Canterbury age grade system and played club rugby for Linwood.
I was a wannabee flyhalf, but I was pigeonholed into the lock department, probably because of a lack of pace!
I was a basketball player as well, so I could jump.
Basketball gave me a really good foundation and helped me with lineout play.
Q: You spent most of your playing career overseas. How did that come about?
A: I first came to the UK when I was 18 on a scholarship to play at Leicester for a season. Then I went to Japan for three and a half years and back to Christchurch for a season in 1997.
An opportunity came up then to go back to the UK and do it as a job, so I took the offer to go to Nottingham.
My wife, Claire, is English, so I had full ability to get in.
I found myself in the UK and haven’t really looked back. I have spent probably more time here than anywhere.
It was part-time rugby at Nottingham, so I thought I needed to get some skills behind me.
After two years at Nottingham and a year at Coventry, I went to London Irish when I was 26 and did three years there.
We had a really good team. Brendan Venter came over and was wonderfully innovative and creative as a coach. We ended up winning the Powergen Cup and I really enjoyed being part of it all.
Then went to France to play for Narbonne, but I ended up getting injured. I lasted one year and was broken at the age of 30. That was me playing-wise with a fused ankle.
Having played professionally for about 11 years I was pretty happy with the innings. The game had looked after me and shown me the world. It led me to meeting my wife in Japan and gave me a lot. Q: You went pretty much straight from playing into coaching? Was that always an ambition?
A: I had originally started off teacher-training in New Zealand because I was going to be a PE teacher, so going into coaching was the natural fit.
I love the game, always have. I’m passionate about it and will watch a game of rugby for fun rather than for a job.
Nottingham offered me the chance to come back and coach and I was straight in at 31. I didn’t really get a chance to take a breath, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way.
I ended up taking over the Director of Rugby job and was there for eight years.
It’s a tough job when you are coaching in the evenings and holding down a job in the day. You have got to be pretty keen and enthusiastic and I certainly was.
After Nottingham, I had four years with London Irish, then went back to New Zealand. I was at Canterbury for a year, then Highlanders for two.
Q: You were linked with the Cardiff Blues job back in 2015. Was that ever on the cards?
A: It was reported at the time, but I knew Danny Wilson was going to get the job. I know him very well, since his days at London Welsh, and he went in and did a good job. While it’s nice to get mentioned in dispatches, I think Cardiff already had their man sorted out and it proved to be a really good appointment.
Q: So how did the move to the Scarlets come about?
A: It was the December of 2018 that Brad was announced as taking over from Wayne Pivac. I was up in Christchurch and was due to head back to the UK for Christmas.
I was basically commuting to New Zealand from
London.
Brad and I go back a long way. I knew him from school days in Christchurch and we played against each other at club level in Christchurch.
Anyway, he asked me for a coffee and sounded me out about the job. My three years in New Zea
land were coming to a conclusion and I was pretty keen to get back to the UK. The family was still based here, so I said yes.
Brad’s philosophy and mine are fairly similar and I think that’s the key. When you work with someone, you have to work with the person first and that’s been the great joy over the last 12 months, working together with him. Now he’s gone and bloody left me!
But for good reasons. As a New Zealander, it’s a bit of a no-brainer when you get the chance to take up a job with the All Blacks. You can’t begrudge anyone for wanting to coach their country. It’s one of the greatest honours you can get in the game and he has earned that. He has done a great job where he has been.
All of a sudden, the Scarlets were looking for a new head coach. I was asked if I was interested and I was.
Before I said I’d love to do it, I had a chat with the staff and canvassed a couple of players just to see whether they would support that because there’s not much use in going for a job unless it’s going to work and fit. It was really pleasing to hear that people were supportive of me having a go at it.
Q: Can Scarlets’ supporters expect much change in approach with you taking over from Brad?
A: Every person has slightly different nuances. But it will be evolution, there is no revolution coming. We started off on this journey together and I want to see it through.
There are always going to be subtle variances in the way we play, but the foundations are pretty well set.
My part of the foundation has been the defensive side, which we have been pretty happy with. We have put ourselves back up in the top three in the competition. You’ve got to have a robust defence to launch from, so the key thing was to get that foundation sorted. The attacking structure was new this year and there’s a similarity with Brad and me on that front. If you look at the Ospreys game at Christmas, we really started to cut loose and show what we can do and there is more of that to come.
There is no paradigm shift coming. We will continue to play with freedom and with expression, as we have some of the best players, not just in Wales, but in the world in our team.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your home life? A: I live over the hill in Mumbles. It reminds me so much of growing up in New Zealand in Timaru, where the family farm is. There are lots of similarities with the west of Wales.
We’ve got four kids, aged from 18 to 11. Our oldest boy is at Swansea University, doing maths.
They are great kids and fully immersed in the Scarlets, getting to games and enjoying it. My wife does a fantastic job. There are five kids for her to look after because she has to put up with me too!
Q: You’ve signed Tyler Morgan and Sam Costelow. Are there any other new faces on the way?
A: We are always looking. But you’ve got to remember Liam Williams hasn’t pulled on the shirt yet and Jonathan Davies hasn’t played this season. So that’s effectively a couple of new signings coming in and they are not bad are they?
James Davies is another guy that we’ve not seen. He’s not had a chance since the World Cup because of injuries. That’s three new players that are pretty good.
There will be a couple of new faces coming in, but not major surgery.
The midfield is the key area that has needed attention with a couple of guys that are leaving.
Q: Are there any younger players you are particularly excited about? A: Our Academy is really good. It’s in rude health.
Ryan Conbeer has had a crack this year and shown his potential. He is an out and out try scorer with wonderful feet. He could side-step himself in a phone box.
Jac Morgan is a young man with a big future in the back row, primarily on the openside. He has come through like a freight train. Morgan Jones and Jack Price, the two young locks, are going to be something. I am looking up to these two, which I like! They are exciting.
Then you’ve got Carwyn Tuipulotu coming through as a 17-year-old. He is on a path at No.8 and you’ve got Osian Knott and Joe Roberts in the centre. So there’s some exciting young talent.
Q: You’ve been 15 years as a coach now, but your enthusiasm seems undiminished.
A: This isn’t a job, this is a passion. It’s not what I do, it’s who I am.
I had a wonderful initiation at Nottingham working with young, developing players. That’s where I really cut my teeth.
That built a fire in me that it’s a young man’s game and that if they are good enough, they are old enough, they will play. That fire still burns.
I am a firm believer that learning is a destination you never arrive at and I’m not even part way there.
The fires burn long and hard. I feel deeply honoured and privileged to lead such a great club, I’m very much looking forward to getting us on the field again, whenever that may be.
Q: It sounds like rugby has given you a lot.
A: It’s given me everything. Rugby was the vehicle that allowed me to go overseas and look around and meet some wonderful people. It’s let me see the world. It’s introduced me to my wife. There has been lots of fun and enjoyment along the way.
There are so many stories that we all want to talk about. I have been really fortunate that every place I’ve been I’ve managed to make good friends and create some wonderful memories.
That’s no different at the Scarlets. The last 12 months I have made great friends and been humbled by some of the things.
It’s not every day you get a call from Phil Bennett, is it? I am reaching around for my autograph book because Phil is revered in New Zealand as one of the very best.
He just rung me up to see how I was and how I was getting on. That speaks volumes of the type of people you get to meet in rugby. He’s not only one of the greatest players the game has ever seen but a genuinely good person.
He was one of the first to ring me after I got the job to wish me well. When you’ve got support like that, it’s a pretty special place to work.