New Gloucester coach Nigel Davies reckons Mike Tindall will help make Gloucester great

Nigel Davies, Gloucester‘s new director of rugby, is banking on the experience of Mike Tindall to help fire the club towards domestic and European glory.
Having gained a reputation for attacking rugby at the Scarlets, Davies is almost drooling at the prospect of Gloucester’s gifted young backs achieving their full potential.
The likes of Jonny May, Henry Trinder, Charlie Sharples, Freddie Burns and Billy Twelvetrees are expected to take next season’s Premiership by storm.
But experience is equally vital and Davies is delighted to have Tindall at his side after promoting the former England skipper to the role of player-coach.
Davies told The Rugby Paper: “I see Mike as fundamental to the way we can move forward over the next couple of years.
“He has played here for a long time and understands the culture; he understands the playing group and he’s got a very good rugby mind.
“He’s going to have to change his mindset a little bit and what Mike must do now is work very hard on the coaching side of things.
“But over the next couple of years I’m sure we’ll see Mike develop into an excellent coach.
“The whole of our backline is young, inexperienced but very exciting.
“I’m looking forward to working with them and having seen a bit of them already, they do possess a lot of talent – but you need to counterbalance that.
“Mike brings experience and continuity into that area, and also he’s a slightly different dynamic to some of the players we already have.”
Davies insists there are ‘no limits’ to what Gloucester can achieve, with Premiership and Heineken Cup success firmly on the club’s agenda.
But, in addition to Tindall’s experience, he believes the Cherry & Whites need a harder edge up front in order to compete with the best.
Davies explained: “There are no limits on this team, individually or collectively, and what we will do is play with real pride and passion for the shirt.
“That’s the minimum requirement for the Gloucester supporters; it’s what I expect and what the players will want to do as well.
“If our backline clicks the club could achieve anything, but we have to realise that you don’t win games just through your backline.
“The guys here are capable of scoring exceptional tries, but we have to do the basics well first, build through the right areas, then who knows?
“The majority of tries these days are scored from turnovers and if we can create those, then we certainly have the backs to exploit them.
“But the challenge is to marry that with a hard-edged pack of forwards who will create a platform.”
Davies’s switch to Gloucester sees him become the fourth former Welsh regional head coach to cross the River Severn in the last year.
Former Cardiff boss Dai Young is in charge of Wasps, ex-Ospreys head coach Lyn Jones is at London Welsh and Paul Turner, who left Newport in 2011, is now a coaching consultant in Hertfordshire after spending last season at Wasps.
But Davies denies their defections reflect badly on regional rugby in Wales, insisting it is more a case of individuals needing fresh challenges.
“A lot of these guys were a long time in Wales and you’ve got to stimulate yourself,” Davies said.
“You can’t stay as a head coach of a team for more than five years because it starts to have a negative effect.
“Coming to Gloucester is a departure from what I’m used to and that’s the attraction, to challenge myself differently.”
With the average tenure of a Premiership head coach now under two years, Davies faces pressure to achieve success.
He added: “There’s huge pressure to stay in the Premiership in the first place, so games tend to be a bit more scripted.
“Some say the Premiership’s more physical as well, but I’m not sure about that because the Celtic League’s right up there.
“The Premiership’s a very performance-based model, whereas regional rugby in Wales is highly focused on the development of players.
“The structure allows you to do that, but in England it’s less about development and more about performance – and that’s understandable.
“It’s a different challenge but one I’m delighted to accept.”
NEALE HARVEY