Quiet man Clarke busy plotting Ospreys revival
A WISE man once suggested the golden rule when on a rollercoaster is to stay in your seat in times of trouble, because it’s only people who jump off get who hurt.
It could be a line that guided Allen Clarke during his stint on the big dipper with the Ospreys last season.
There were deep, deep lows with hidings at the hands of Munster (4913), Leinster (52-7) and Connacht (465) and the off-field traumas that almost saw a merger with the Scarlets.
But there were also notable highs, among them victories in five Welsh derbies, while the character they showed to recover from a seemingly hopeless position to claim an Heineken Champions Cup place was startling.
Throughout it all, Clarke declined to get carried away. When the flak was coming in for the shaky results, and one or two wanted to put his head in stocks on the nearest village green, the Northern Irishman didn’t panic, instead sticking to what he and his coaches believed in.
And when the Ospreys went on the end-of-season run that secured their return to European rugby’s top tier, he didn’t turn cartwheels in the street or call for the achievement to be acknowledged on News at Ten.
Instead, he just carried on without fuss, as is his way.
MARK ORDERS went up to the Ospreys’ training base to catch up with him...
Mark Orders: How would you describe your mood heading towards the new season?
Allen Clarke: I’m focusing on what we can control and that means trying to achieve consistency of performance. We want to improve, build our rugby and be in the best state physically.
We’ll judge ourselves on our values and won’t be hijacked by a scoreboard.
MO: But you accept you’ll be judged by results, as all coaches are?
AC: Of course, we are in the business of winning. I want to win at everything I do and I want the team to win every time they take the field, but if you’re a realist you are not going to go through a season without losing.
The key is to win enough games to keep your head above the parapet and strike at the business end of the season. You have to build your way through any campaign.
In many regards we are still building our squad.
We do have more established players but we also want to [build] our depth below that tier.
To a degree, that was part of what we did last season with our selections.
Hopefully, we’ll be better because of it.
MO: How did you cope with the criticism that came your way after rotating so much for certain games last season?
AC: Flak comes with the territory. It falls on the head coach’s shoulders and I’m comfortable with that. We work as a coaching team and decisions are taken together with the best interests of the players and the Ospreys at heart.
You can’t worry too much about what is said outside the group. I just want success for the Ospreys.
It’s not about me. It’s about the players, the rest of the management and what we are trying to build here. This is a rugby club who have celebrated success but also faced a lot of challenges, not just last season but in previous years, too.
There are survival instincts here. I came over to the Ospreys to work with quality players, and the place has got under my skin. We have a home here and love the area, the community and the values of the region. I’m desperate for the Ospreys to re-establish ourselves at the top end of the PRO14 and in Europe. I know what good looks like and I know we have good here. That said, it will take time.
MO: So what are the goals for the season?
AC: We want to qualify for the Guinness PRO14 knockout matches and we want to be targeting our home games in Europe, and we’ll see how we go from there.
It’s a tough European draw – you’d be foolhardy to say it’s not. Even the presenters at the draw were saying it’s the pool of death, with four quality sides in there.
MO: Will you be rotating much in selection this season?
AC: This term will be exceptional because of the World Cup.
But, looking forward, we are keen to bring through five or so guys from within the region and another five guys, too.
So we have to ask ourselves questions.
Who’s the next Justin Tipuric? Who’s the next Alun Wyn Jones? Who’s the next Adam Beard? Who’s the next Nicky Smith? Who’s the next Owen Watkin?
We want to develop those players, along with attracting the likes of George North, Scott Williams, Aled
Davies, Gareth Anscombe and others.
We want to be attracting that quality of player while developing boys from the towns, streets and valleys that make up this region.
But, like I say, this is not a typical season for selection.
MO: You’ve been head coach for over a year. Do you now consider this your squad?
AC: I think we’re still building and it might take a little while before we are there.
But our rugby general manager Dan Griffiths and managing director Andrew Millward recognise as much. They understand the importance of building the spine of the team around players who are already Ospreys, so we have to retain those guys. We’ve also already identified areas where we wish to recruit in the future.
I see myself being part of this rebuild in terms of players and coaches and in terms of bringing young coaches through -- guys like Richard Fussell, Duncan Jones and Andrew Bishop, who have been excellent, along with our young strength and conditioning coaches.
There’s also more established people such as Matt Sherratt and Carl Hogg.
MO: What can we expect from Gareth Anscombe as an Ospreys player?
AC: He’s a top-quality player who will add real value to our game. Gareth will bring leadership qualities. He’s playing international rugby and starting at 10 for Wales leading into the World Cup.
But it also comes down to a player’s individual performance and he has a beautiful skill set.
Not only can he play a running game, he can also play a more positional game.
He has a range of kicks and a passing game. So he ticks a lot of boxes.
MO: Do you see him as being at the peak of his powers or do you believe he still has growth in his game?
AC: I’d like to believe he’s come to us because he feels he has growth in his game and he’ll be pushed by the likes of Luke Price, Cai Evans and James Hook.
Those boys will be standing up and leading our attack when Gareth’s away with Wales.
MO: Do you see him as a contender for a Lions spot in 2021?
AC: I don’t just want to talk about the international boys, as we have so much else going on in our squad, but I hope so.
If you’re a starting 10 for Wales, you have to be in contention for the Lions.
MO: How excited should we be about your young Wales U20s hooker Dewi Lake?
AC: He had a wonderful World Rugby Championship with Wales U20s in terms of his performances and leadership. He’s mature beyond his years and I believe he’ll flourish in the next 12 months.
That said, we’re not putting pressure on him, other than asking him to work hard and really grow in terms of his positional precision and his conditioning.
We have three other strong hookers in Sam Parry, Scott Otten and Ifan Phillips, so there’s good competition there.
MO: You’re a former hooker yourself. How do you improve a core skill such as lineout throwing?
AC: Lineout throwing is a little like golf putting in terms of core principles.
Everyone has his or her own idiosyncrasies and, as a coach, you have to work with the individual.
Dewi is a great shape for it. He’s nice and tall and he stands big at the line. It’s about deliberate practice, increasing and decreasing pressure until you build up quality repetition.
It’s not just constant repetition. There has to be precision in the repetition, otherwise you are just repeating bad.
MO: The Ospreys endured a near-death experience just four months ago.
Do you think that threat has been ifted, given the private equity firm CVC potentially coming into the Guinness PRO14 picture with a significant injection of finance?
AC: There’s a lot to be optimistic about in regional rugby, particularly given the discussions with CVC and the possibility of a British and Irish League.
Such a tournament would be fantastic for Wales as a whole.
It would be great for our players to face the best from over the Severn Bridge as well as from Ireland and Scotland. It would be brilliant for the supporters, too.
But it would also be good for the Welsh economy with the extra travelling support and the benefits those away fans would bring in terms of staying at hotels and the social side of the game.
That said, I’m hearing nothing other than what I’ve read in the press.
Our focus is on the first seven PRO14 games.