by Jordan A Jones
Rowland Phillips has spoken about the transition of going from men’s rugby to women’s rugby.
Phillips is the Head Coach for the Welsh National women’s team. He had 10 senior caps for the men’s team from 1987 to 1989.
His coaching experience before moving into the women’s game was extensive, including with Neath RFC where he led them to four Welsh Premiership titles and three cup final wins.
Phillips moved to Italy to work with Airoini as a defensive coach, before becoming the head coach in November 2010. He had a brief stint with Viadana before returning to Neath but was when offered the chance to manage London Welsh.
The former Neath RFC back-row said: “I think the challenge is the same.
“Girls are honest with me. Girls will ask questions and it will make me better and make what I do better.
“I cannot assume that there is a natural rugby language. I’ve got to be careful on how I pass on my information.
“If I skim over things too quickly it’ll get complicated too quickly. I’ve got to be careful on [getting] the right message across. I can never assume they’ve got it.
“The way it’s thought about, men play rugby to feel good, women need to feel good to play well. I need to create the right culture and environment.
Phillips, who also played rugby league for Warrington and Workington Town, entered his post with the Wales women’s team in July 2016.
They finished last in the Six Nations in 2017 and fifth in 2016, but he explained this is a work in progress for him.
“We’re probably in the second tier. We can grow and we can step up and grow into that calibre.
“We need to build culture. We have to build everything from the level up so the whole thing moves forward.”
Phillips was speaking from the University of South Wales’ Women and Sport conference, which had an array of speakers, including Helen Ward, keynote speaker Jayne Ludlow and Commonwealth athlete Christie Marie-Williams.
