Timeline to Phil Davies' departure

May 1 2008 by Delme Parfitt, Western Mail

Delme Parfitt gives a blow-by-blow account of the events leading up to Davies' Stradey exit

Delme Parfitt gives a blow-by-blow account of the events leading up to Davies' Stradey exit...

Saturday January 21

Scarlets 0 Clermont Auvergne 41

As if the Heineken Cup campaign hadn’t been bad enough already for Phil Davies’ Scarlets, this was utter humiliation. The French side ran in six unanswered tries at Stradey Park as a desperately poor home side chased shadows. The one-sidedness of the match was so out of keeping with the Scarlets’ reputation as Wales’ European standard-bearers

Tuesday January 22

The board begins to get really twitchy under pressure from disgruntled sponsors, who are demanding something is done to arrest the slide. Those who pour money into the club are nearing the end of their patience threshold.

Saturday March 29

Scarlets 10 Leinster 24

Davies’ men go into this match hopeful of mounting an assault on the Magners League crown but knowing that they have to beat the Irish league leaders to do so, preferably with a bonus point. But it is an insipid performance throughout in which they are a clear second best to the Irish province. Not for the first time they are bashed up front and never really look like delivering the result. Defeat confirms that there is nothing left to play for the rest of the season, but Davies still insists they are a squad improving and developing.

March 30 onwards

A player delegation requests a meeting about the future with Davies and the board, a move which underlines the discontent festering among the corridors of Stradey and the first hard evidence that Davies was losing the dressing room.

Friday April 18

Glasgow 25 Scarlets 23

While hardly the most important fixture in their history, this is yet another nail in Davies’ coffin, a disappointing defeat to one of the weakest sides in the Magners League suggesting no revival is imminent.

Monday April 21

The start of a week which saw Davies and Stradey Park chief executive Stuart Gallacher jet off to New Zealand in search of new recruits. The trip suggests a desperation to bolster, with so few options of proven Test ability available at home in Wales. Gallacher returns resolving to ask the Welsh Rugby Union for special dispensation to bring in more than the permitted quota of six non-Welsh players.

Tuesday April 29:

12 noon

The Scarlets hold a press conference at which Davies and Gallacher are present to speak to Welsh media about their plans for the future. They discuss their trip to New Zealand, Gallacher talks about the foreign player issues and there are a few more bland observations about Saturday’s clash against Munster. Davies’ body language does not seem right, but there is no obvious sign of the Mount Vesuvius that is about to erupt. The press briefing ends and Gallacher and Davies head into a private meeting in another room.

4.30pm

The first rumblings that something drastic is afoot reach the Western Mail, as our rugby correspondent Andy Howell is tipped off that the afternoon has taken a sensational turn. He discovers the situation has moved on from being merely a case of Davies under pressure, to him being out of a job – full stop. A bitterly disappointing season is to end with Davies departing Stradey, the first enforced parting of the ways between a coach and a Welsh region of any real substance since the move away from the old club system in 2003.

Wednesday April 29, 6.30pm

As the nation wakes up to the Western Mail’s story. Davies is apparently told of our revelation, but turns up for work as normal. He is still seemingly unaware that he is definitely heading for the exit door at Stradey.

9am

Davies arrives at Stradey in a state of shock. Is he coming or going? The Scarlets look in a state of shambles as no statement about his future is forthcoming. The region’s media manager Graeme Gillespie, widely respected among the Welsh rugby writers’ fraternity, is completely in the dark about the situation. Rumours emerge that the Scarlets have drafted in external public relations people to oversee how the affair is communicated.

12 noon

Davies meets with Scarlets chairman Huw Evans to be told that his contract is being terminated on May 31. Evans tells him to remain away from Stradey Park in the meantime, effectively placing him on gardening leave.

4pm

There is still no sign of a statement from the Scarlets even though the rest of the Welsh media has picked up on the Western Mail’s story and successors to Davies are being debated on radio stations and websites. Our man Howell has been on national radio to discuss the issue, with some callers even asking him if the story is really true. Davies has gone, take it from me, Howell replies.

4.30pm

Davies’ whereabouts at this stage are unknown, but one thing for definite is that his time at Stradey has come to an end. The talk has moved onto who the new man at the helm will be. We are led to believe Nigel Davies, another former Stradey favourite, is to take charge. And guess what... his old Wales colleague Gareth Jenkins will be involved, too.

4.48pm

Finally the Scarlets release a statement confirming Davies has definitely gone. It is brief, contains no thanks for Davies’ work in almost two seasons in charge and reveals that forwards coach Richard Moriarty, backs chief Rob Jones and fitness guru Wayne Proctor will take temporary charge at Stradey. There is no further indication as to who will take the helm of the Scarlets in the longer term.