Young to take time in search for assistant

Mar 20 2008 by Delme Parfitt, South Wales Echo

CARDIFF Blues coach Dai Young will be joined by his sidekick Rob Howley once again at Stradey Park tomorrow night, but says he has “mixed emotions” about the state of his management team at present.

Howley is back from his glorious sojourn with Wales and can now boast having a Grand Slam on his coaching CV.

The former Lions scrum-half will see out the season with the Blues before leaving for good to focus on the national set-up this summer.

And that is when the pressure will bear down on Young to find his replacement, now Scott Johnson has finally decided not to return to Wales.

“It’s disappointing about Scott, I’ve mixed emotions about the whole situation,” Young conceded.

“When he was first linked with us I was sceptical about the whole thing.

“But there did come a point when it looked as though it was going to happen.

“Now it isn’t – and it’s up to us to find someone else.”

That process will not, however, be rushed.

In fact, do not expect any kind of replacement for Howley to be unveiled until well into the summer.

That’s not down to any casual approach to the matter by Young. No, he says he will be meticulous in his search.

“We owe it to the players to find the best man for the job,” added Young.

“But finding an assistant is probably more difficult than a head coach because assistants don’t tend to move around of their own accord.

“Obviously, the most important thing is that we bring in someone of real quality because we want to build quality on and off the field.

“I have one or two ideas as to who I may go after, but it would not be right to make those public at the moment.

“And, in any case, I won’t be jumping up to settle this straight away. I’m going to take my time.”

While Young points out the difficulties of finding assistants, he will be able to cast the net as far as he likes.

“It may be that the right man is overseas, or it may be that we give a chance to someone who is inexperienced but has potential,” Young continued.

“It could also be that we look to promote someone from a lower level, whether that is here or abroad.

“One possibility is Gareth Baber, the Sevens coach who has come in and helped us a few times in recent weeks and has impressed.

“But whatever happens we will do our best to get it right.”

Young will be keenly aware that the appointment will also have a big bearing on his own future. Because, unless the chemistry is right among the coaching team, there is almost certain to be a detrimental effect on results.

The resurgence of the Blues in recent times has seen his own stock rise considerably, to the point where he will lead the Barbarians against England and Ireland at the end of the season.

And, while in no way wishing to take a large slice of the credit, Young believes the efforts of the Welsh regions should be recognised in reflecting on the Welsh Grand Slam.

“When Wales do badly the regions seem to get a large slice of the blame, so when they do well maybe we should get a little credit,” he said.

“I’m not for a moment suggesting we get a lot of it, but some recognition would be nice.

“I’ve said before that I think we are too down on ourselves a lot of the time in Wales, maybe we’re not as bad as we sometimes think.”

delme.parfitt@mediawales.co.uk