Coaching paying off in England

Press, 7 July 1977, Page 36

Coaching paying off in England

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

Donald Rutherford, England’s delegate to the Asian and Pacific Rugby Congress at Lincoln College this week, is having a happier time than he did on his first visit to New Zealand in 1966. On that occasion, RutherJford was a full-back in the 1966 British Lions team, and the thirteenth match of that tour proved unlucky for him. He broke his arm in the match against Mana-watu-Horowhenua and returned home.

However, rugby has remained a part of Mr Rutherford’s way of life, and he attends the congress as the English director of coaching. He was appointed to that position in September, 1969, as the first director, and has retained the post since. Although the position was! not established until 1969,1 the grass roots were formed | six years previously when I knowledgeable men' of the game, not necessarily members of the Home Unions, combined for the purpose of organising and promoting the sport. “No clubs had coaches, it was all a new concept and involved people from all the

unions,” Mr Rutherford said. Wales was the first union to get organised, in 1967, and England followed suit two years later. “Even today there are two or three major clubs in England . without coaches, and they don’t want them either. But the majority do, and there is a growing awareness that if they want to improve they have to be organised,” Mr Rutherford said. Mr Rutherford said that schools in England had always been organised to some extent, but there was no follow up at club level. He is responsible for developing the game in England from the small boys who play “mini” rugby to international level. Initially there was one t h r e e-day course for 'coaches; now there are six separate courses over a ' | week. England has national |' under-16, under-19, and I under-23 sides, and a course is devoted to each of them. ; “Before organised coaching we never knew where i our players went from one < year to the next. Now we 1 can see them coming < through the respective nat- I ional age groups — Bill 1

,Beaumont and Peter Squires, ; (two members of the present British Lions touring party’) are examples of the system.” The success of the England under-age teams in recent years is surely proof of the success of the English coaching system. The under--23 team has recently re- I turned from Canada and’

twice accounted for the Canadian national team. It has also beaten Japan (twice), Tonga, and Italy. The under--19 team has suffered only one loss in the last four years and beat Wales, 26-0, at Cardiff this year “although the Welsh will tell you differently,” he grinned. Mr Rutherford considers English and British forward play has improved immensely because of coaching. A tremendous amount of time had been spent in getting forwards into shape, he said. “They are now bigger and technically much better.” However, he expressed his concern about the lack of advance in back play. The development of forward play has been to the detriment of back play. “In England there is a purge on backs. We want to persuade them to play a runs ning game and use individual ’ skills. These are priorities. - There will be a time when ' our forwards will be mashed, and if we rely too much on • them we will come unstuck. ■ We are concerned more and ’ more with back skills to give i us more options when this • occurs/ 5 Mr Rutherford “said. .1 Mr Rutherford has seen l! four matches of the present

Lions’ tour. He feels that the forwards were hampered initially by injuries, and were a little slow to develop, but with the expected return of experienced players to the Lions’ pack for the second test he expects a better showing. “It will depend on how much possession the Lions can win.”

A willingness of New Zealand teams to run the ball more is one difference Mr Rutherford has noted since he was here in 1966, and he is still impressed with the rucking and control of the loose ball by provincial sides. He does not envisage the All Blacks’ changing their style of play adopted for the first test for the second test on Saturday. And to the future? “We have made a lot of progress, but there is room for improvement. There are enough coaches at present, but we lack the depth of experince you have in New Zealand. As we started, only eight years ago most of our coaches are in their early thirties, whereas most of your provincial coaches would be in their forties or older. We haven’t the depth yet but we can only get better.” said the personable 39-year-old Englishman,