Ryan Davis has been given “a fair bit of rope” to put his own stamp on the Bath Rugby team and their tactics in the PREM Rugby Cup.
Ryan Davis, left, and Ewan Richards face the media at Bath Rugby’s pre-PREM Cup Round 3 press conference on Tuesday 28th October | Photo © Bath Rugby
The 39-year-old coach will step into head of rugby Johann van Graan’s boots and lead the Blue, Black & White in the next block of cup fixtures, which gets under way with a Round 3 derby against Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate Stadium on Friday 31st October (7.45pm).
And at Bath’s pre-Bears press conference on Tuesday 28th October, Davis – who captained England at under-21 level and began his coaching career with Mangotsfield-based Cleve – told the Echo that van Graan has given him virtual free rein to run matters how he chooses.
Bristol-born Davis, a former Bath utility back, said: “He’s given me a fair bit of rope to deliver how I see we need to attack, or between defence with Lills [Mark Lilley] and Charts [Luke Charteris] with set piece and Ruaridh [McConnochie] doing skills. He’s given me a fair bit of scope.
“Obviously, we’re pretty aligned. There’s nothing I’d say that’s changed hugely since we’ve stepped in over the last couple of days.
“We’ve been in the programme now for the last three or four years. We know how each other works, so it’s good.
“I think from a set-piece point of view and strikes and everything else that comes into it, I’ve had a fair crack at it, but you won’t see anything drastic or changing in what we do.
“Johann’s just stepped back and obviously he’s fed back to me after sessions or we’ve had a little catch-up preview/post meetings.
“And he’s been really thorough with his feedback, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
“I just said ‘Give it to me between the eyes when it’s worked, when it hasn’t’, and he has.
“I think he’s going to be at the game. And he’ll give me feedback after, but I don’t think he’ll be interjecting too much, which is class because obviously I get to learn and the boys can see it’s authentic as well.”
When the Echo asked Davis if he hopes that one day he will be a head coach or a director of rugby, or whether he is happy working under experienced people and getting his chance to lead a team from time to time, he said: “That’s a great question, because I think you go through moments of going ‘Right, what do I want in life? Where do you want to push? What do I want to aspire to?’.
“For me, I’m being a sponge. I’ve been a sponge for a couple of years.
“I’ve had some great attack coaches come through the club. I learned a lot from Lee Blackett last year. Martin [Gleeson], I’m just getting to know.
“And from where we’ve been in the last couple of years to where we are now, I’ve learned a hell of a lot from Johann and Japes [JP Ferreira] and so on.
“I think right now it’s still discovering what’s working, what isn’t, and I’m developing my character as an attack coach and you never know where it’s going to be in the future.
“So nothing’s set in stone. Just a sponge.”
Bath won the cup under the captaincy of Ewan Richards last season. The 23-year-old has plenty of PREM experience under his belt too, including a memorable appearance against Gloucester Rugby at The Rec this month when he scored two tries in a 38-17 home win.
Asked by the Echo how playing in the cup compares to playing in the league, Richards said: “It might not be as big as the PREM but you’ve got a lot of hungry young lads that want to play. And this is the opportunity they get.
“We see the competition as a development competition for lads to get out there and express themselves and I think you probably saw that even last year, you had a lot of young lads that, when they played, it’s some of the best rugby they played for a long time, and it was good to see.
“I really enjoy playing these games because I play with a lot of the lads that are coming up through, and I play with a lot of my mates in these games.
“It’s good to see and I like to think the fans see it the same because you’ve got a lot of good young players coming through and you see it every time we play in these PREM Cup fixtures.”
As to whether Bath can beat the Bears this week, Richards said: “That’s the aim. We stick to our process, stick to our game, and that’s all we can do. I know the boys will be there ready to go on Friday night.”
