Steve Tandy Takes the Reins of Wales: Ambition and Renewal in Rugby
The new Wales head coach, Steve Tandy, has expressed his determination to restore national pride in the team, following a period of decline in the world rankings. Tandy, born in Tonmawr and a former player and coach of the Ospreys, returns to his home country after six years as Scotland’s defense coach. Tandy becomes the first Welshman to lead the national team since 2007, at a time when Wales has dropped to 12th in the world rankings. The team broke a run of 17 consecutive defeats by beating Japan last month, in the last match of Matt Sherratt’s interim tenure.“The privilege and honor of being head coach of your country is enormous. Being in the locker room is even better. I feel great pride, a sense of family, and how great this rugby nation is. It’s a feeling of absolute pride and an honor.”
Steve Tandy
Tandy, who won the Pro12 competition during his six years at the Ospreys, worked for the NSW Waratahs in Australia before joining Scotland. In addition, Gatland included him as a defense coach on the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021. “What has really driven me from the start is wanting to be the best person and the best coach I can be. Did I ever think I’d be coaching the Lions? No. Did I ever think I’d coach the Waratahs? No. But I think it’s amazing what happens when you have the mindset to be better and understand that you have blind spots and things to work on,” added Tandy. Tandy will take up his post on September 1st and will prepare for the autumn home matches against Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. He will work on setting up his technical team along with WRU’s performance director, Dave Reddin, highlighting that there is a “blank canvas” after the assistance of Gethin Jenkins (defense), Danny Wilson (forwards), Adam Jones (scrum), Rhys Thomas (assistant forwards coach) and Leigh Halfpenny (kicks) to Sherratt in Japan.“I believe in the talent we have in Wales to take us where we want to go. There will be no magic wand or quick fix, but I do believe in the path. We want to have ambition to achieve those goals, but there is also a process to get there. We have to improve campaign performance from campaign to campaign and see how we can build that performance with the exciting group we have.”
Steve Tandy
