Coach to coach
Steve Hill talks to Simon Culley, below, head of rugby at Durham University
How and why did you get into coaching rugby?
I worked in a school in Queensland after I left school and really enjoyed the coaching. On my return to the UK to attend university I picked up some coaching roles and it took over from playing pretty quickly.
Who have you previously coached/how did you arrive in your current coaching role?
I came back to Durham in 2019 after three years in New Zealand, my son was due and we wanted to be closer to family. Previously I coached Brunel University women while working for the RFU, then moved into the men’s national leagues with Havant then Newbury. This led to a full time role as head of rugby at Northumbria University. I worked with DMP Sharks, North 20s and Northumberland County as well which led to me burning out and needing a change. Six months of summer rugby in Canada winning an Alberta Cup led to three years in Wellington coaching Premier grade club rugby.
What is your occupation outside of coaching?
I’ve been lucky to always work in rugby – firstly as a rugby development officer with the RFU before coaching full time.
What is your coaching philosophy?
I try to treat each circumstance on its own merits wherever I work. Core principles I hold are that whatever the reason for playing, rugby is a game that has to be enjoyed.
So far what would you count as your most significant coaching achievement?
In terms of team performance I’m really proud of the first County Championship (Plate I think) with Dorset and Wilts. The county had failed to put out a senior XV 18 months before and a group of us worked together to kick start it back to life by enthusing the players to have fun.
What do you find most challenging about the job?
Work/life balance is tough in this job, I have to work hard to not be beholden to my phone/ emails. I still need to manage it better otherwise burnout becomes a real issue.
How do you measure your success as a coach?
Hugely contextual depending on the role but in general it’s helping the individual players reach their best potential while our teams also doing well. I’d also class it a success when a player uses their rugby to travel the world or kick start their career, or just ends their time with our programme and tells me they enjoyed it and it was worthwhile.
Where do you see university rugby currently and in the future sitting within the RFU pathway/rugby landscape?
The development of Men’s Bucs Super Rugby has been unbelievable over the last 10 years and we are now seeing the Women’s side rapidly developing. The leagues are producing high quality players who have a meaningful dual career option if rugby doesn’t work out. We need the RFU and Prem rugby to buy into it properly so that it becomes an integral part of the player pathway
What are the main challenges university rugby currently faces?
How does it keep moving forward and become part of the integrated pathway. The talk of an U23 league/cup for the Prem is rubbish and a needless expense for clubs. If you build the correct relationships, Bucs Super Rugby can be that league. On the women’s side there is a bigger issue in it becoming a southern centric league – as with everything else in the women’s game. Newcastle, Northumbria and Durham have all been at or near the top previously and helped produce so many top class female players but having little Premier offer in the north makes it very tough.
Has anyone been an adviser/mentor/inspiration on your coaching journey and how has that helped?
Alex Keay my predecessor at Durham has been an ever present source of support. Dave Guthrie my co-coach at Northumbria was huge in helping me in my first full time job, and Richard Deck and Marty Berry while navigating the cut throat world of coaching in Wellington.
Is there anything more the RFU could do to aid the development of university rugby?
I think at a development level Katy Young and Jonny Stephenson are brilliant, constantly fighting our corner. Performance wise next step has to be to recognise and accept us as part of the pathway (like WRU have in Wales).
Please identify a player who you have really enjoyed coaching/developing and why?
Abbie Ward (nee Scott) set the bar for focus, drive and professionalism. She pushed herself every day she was at Northumbria Uni with me and that pushed me to be better. And there are a number of Durham Uni boys heading into professional rugby including Fred Davies (what a leader), Paul Brown (damning failure of rugby’s talent ID that no one signed him before Chiefs finally did) and Max Pepper.
What two laws or aspects of the game would you change to make it a better experience for yourself or your players?
We need to change our relationship with referees – it has become them and us far too much. Embed referees in clubs/ universities and make sure they feel part of the game. Also I would make Twickenham and England games accessible to normal fans again – the prices are stupid and the atmosphere is nothing compared to what it was. We need young fans in the stadium excited about watching the top stars.
What advice would you give to anyone considering or just getting involved in coaching?
Turn up – and keep turning up. Be prepared to fail and do things wrong but learn from them. Don’t expect it to be handed to you – it very rarely is. Lots of young coaches want to come straight into this sort of job and then are shocked at what the majority of us went through to get here.
