Scotland’s favourite Welshman makes case for defence
AS the movie-character Rocky Balboa once reckoned: “It ain’t how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
Rewind three years to when Steve Tandy exited the Ospreys after a difficult run of results. The probability is that a brains trust of Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Warren Gatland might have struggled to find answers at the region at the time amid a budgetary squeeze, but no matter.
Tandy found himself on the wrong end of the heaviest blow of his career. Moving forward didn’t seem likely in Wales, with opportunities at professional level few and far between this side of the border. Some feared the ex-flanker might be lost to the coaching game.
Thankfully, it hasn’t worked out that way.
Today, the former Neath and Ospreys openside flanker is feted as one of the brightest young coaches in European rugby.
Under his command, Scotland’s defence restricted England to just six points at Twickenham last weekend.
After the game, former Ireland flyhalf Ronan O’Gara – who has coached the Crusaders in New Zealand and is now in charge of La Rochelle in France – was among those who hailed the Welshman, offering the opinion on social media that Tandy had presided over “a disciplined, defensive masterclass”.
For the record, it was more than 11 years since England had managed to score just six points at Twickenham.
Countless others joined in with praise for Tandy.
The man himself would doubtless have been embarrassed by it all.
For if there’s one thing he dislikes as much as his teams leaking tries, it’s basking in the limelight.
For him, rugby is a collective effort or nothing. Such an outlook was instilled in him during his early days
with Neath, where the idea of putting someone on a pedestal hadn’t arrived 20 years ago and probably still hasn’t.
Like it or not, though, Tandy is increasingly well thought of as a coach. Back in the spring, The Guardian wrote of there being “shades of Shaun Edwards in his approach”. As bounce-backs go, it’s hard to think of many so spectacular for a coach.
His former Ospreys team-mate Nikki Walker, now heading up the coaching operation at Watsonians, isn’t surprised at how well Tandy is doing.
“Steve always wanted to learn,” said Walker ahead of Wales facing Scotland at Murrayfield today.
“He had good knowledge of the game, was well respected and honest.
“Maybe having to work so hard as a player has stood him in good stead. The Ospreys had a very strong squad at the time and Steve had someone like Marty Holah to compete with. But it says much for him that he still had his fair share of matches.
“So, there was every chance he’d make it as a coach.
“After leaving the Ospreys, he made the big call to head out to Australia, where he secured a role with the Waratahs and he did really well with them. Not only that, but it broadened his experience and gave him extra insight.
“I think there’s a lot more to his role with Scotland than defence.
“The side are more pragmatic these days and Steve’s probably had an influence there. Previously, there was a lot of focus on attack, but the approach seems more balanced of late.
“I spoke with him recently and he’s really happy with life and his job. He’s still a young coach who has a big future.”
It must all seem a long time since Tandy sat in his office at the Ospreys looking at a whiteboard with a provisional set of league fixtures scrawled on and the names of countless injured players written on a pad on his table.
The previous season he’d defied the odds and rugby economics to take the Liberty Stadium region into the PRO12 play-offs.
The trick became hard to repeat, though.
But that’s in the past.
Tandy is today a more rounded increasingly coach, and probably a more confident coach, as well, though he doesn’t overdo his media interviews, maybe past experiences having instilled a wariness in the man from Tonmawr.
Some are even talking of him as a future Wales coach.
His ex-coaching partner at the Ospreys, Gruff Rees, is on record as telling the Western Mail he hopes his old pal will one day return to his homeland to work.
“Welsh rugby doesn’t have the depth of knowledge where we can afford to be without someone like Steve. It’s important that we tap into the knowledge of those who have worked in the regional system and especially a man like Steve, who has gone on to prosper elsewhere,” said Rees, now with Cardiff Blues.
Rees hailed Tandy’s personal qualities, saying: “He’s loyal to those around him and at the Ospreys pretty much all who worked closely with him, including analysts and physios, were loyal to Steve.
“He thinks about those he works with, too.
“He’d know stuff about players’ backgrounds and would support them behind the scenes. We wouldn’t know all that as technical coaches, but he could be a very good shield for players and give them protection when they needed it.”
It says much about the man. When the coaching wheel spins next at national level in Wales, expect Tandy’s name to figure in the deliberations for some sort of role in the set-up.
He is someone who’s delivering on the potential the late Derrick King spotted when Tandy left Bridgend RFC for the Ospreys.
“One day he could coach Wales,” said King.
Wales will hope to unlock Tandy’s defence this weekend.
But whatever happens, Scotland’s favourite Welshman has done himself proud after his departure from Welsh rugby.
It’s been good to see.