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On Tuesday morning the Scarlets announced that Rugby Performance Director Leigh Jones will depart the club with former Director of Rugby Nigel Davies returning on an interim basis until the end of the season. The move comes after the Llanelli based region picked up their 9th loss in 11 games this season at home to a heavily rotated Pau side in the Champions Cup.
In a statement the Scarlets said Davies will report directly to the board and be accountable for rugby performance, results, and selection. The decision is understood to be aimed at easing pressure on Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel, who has received fierce criticism for the on-field performances of the team since taking over more than 4 years ago. The changes represents the 2nd backroom restructure in 3 years for the West Wales region.
Former Leicester Tigers DoR and Eddie Jones assistant coach Leigh Jones was appointed as Scarlets Performance Director in July 2024. It followed a wretched season for the club where they won just 5 URC games – at that point, their weakest season under Peel. The Scarlets said Jones would “focus on delivering the highest professional standards, systems and processes that underpin and support Scarlets’ whole rugby environment, as well as leading rugby backroom functions, future recruitment planning and alignment with the Scarlets rugby pathway.”
Initially, the moved appeared to have had a positive impact as the team enjoyed a much-improved 2024/25 season. Aided by several signings in the forward pack, they qualified for the URC play-offs and the Champions Cup. One of the areas Jones said he was targeting for improvement was reducing the injury list, which did happen over the next 12 months.
However, since results took a turn for the worse, Jones has been conspicuous by his absence and has given no media interviews since his initial appointment. His stated aim of developing the other coaches at the Scarlets has shown no signs of baring fruit and the players have cut unhappy figures on the pitch in recent matches. Jones leaves after 18 months at the region.
Davies was part of the Scarlets coaching team from their inception as a region in 2003 until 2012, overseeing multiple successful seasons in Llanelli. In recent years he has been working as a consultant and is being parachuted into his old team at a stressful time both on the pitch and off it.
The Scarlets said “We are delighted and grateful that Nigel has agreed to return to Parc y Scarlets to lead and support the rugby environment during this crucial period in our season and at a time when Welsh rugby is entrenched in a challenging and wide-ranging review.” No doubt Davies will be a powerful off-field presence for the Scarlets in the ongoing battles with the WRU, given he was the Union’s head of rugby for one season back in 2007.
Two things stand out from the statements made about Davies’ return. Firstly, there is the level of accountability he will have for short term results: “Davies will oversee the Scarlets rugby department reporting directly to the Scarlets Board with overall accountability for rugby performance, results and selection” read the statement.
Davies’ own statement reads: “I will take full accountability for performance and results”. It seems unlikely such commitments would be made without giving Davies significant influence over the selection of the team and the game-plan being implemented. This would suggest that his role will be significantly more hands-on than many other DoRs.
Secondly, there are the multiple references in the press release to “Scarlets identify” – made by both Davies himself and by Scarlets Executive Chairman Simon Muderack. This suggests an internal dissatisfaction – echoed by the fans – at the style of rugby the team is playing. The Scarlets are known for their expressive, attack focused brand of rugby that relies on skilful backs, but performances this season have been over reliant on turgid, blunt attacks centred around mauls and one-up forward carries.
If Davies is indeed being tasked with implementing a new game-plan, it raises more questions about the position of head coach Dwayne Peel. Peel is technically remaining in post, but it is hard not to interpret this restructure as something of a demotion. Whether this could lead to more dysfunction within the coaching ticket – which is rumoured to have seen coaches clash behind the scenes in recent years – is yet to be seen.