Tandy: Liberty exit shaped me

STEVE Tandy says his Ospreys sacking helped shape him as a coach.

Tandy was named last month as part of Warren Gatland’s coaching ticket for the tour to South Africa this summer.

The Scotland defence coach will, alongside Gatland, Neil Jenkins, Robin McBryde and Gregor Townsend, attempt to halt the Boks’ threat during their threeTest campaign.

The former Ospreys coach has attributed the job in hand to his understanding about what went wrong for him at the Liberty Stadium region.

He told The Times: “You would obsess over what the opposition were going to do, so you’d do the same drill again five or six times in training, because you’d wanted everything to be perfect, whereas the game’s not perfect.

“As a young coach, you are so desperate for the players to be their best, you want to win stuff, make stuff happen, you are always going on to the next thing and not enjoying it when it went well.

“I got to the point where I wasn’t even happy when we won,

I was always looking to the next thing.

“I was always proud of the players, but did I allow them to enjoy the moments enough?

“And you’d give too much detail to the players. If you give a ridiculous amount of detail, it’s harder for the players to make decisions and to thrive on what they are doing.

“I encourage players to see it themselves more now.”

Meanwhile, Northampton director of rugby Chris Boyd has played down fears Dan Biggar could be forced out of the Lions tour.

The Wales No. 10 suffered a head injury during the Gallagher Premiership match against Gloucester when he was involved in a collision with Billy Twelvetrees. Biggar was down for several minutes as medics assessed him before leaving the pitch.

Biggar failed a head injury assessment, meaning he faces a spell on the sidelines as he goes through the return-to-play protocols.

Boyd said: “He’s OK. He didn’t seem to have any symptoms.”