World Rugby appoint Phil Davies as new Director of Rugby
Phil Davies will join World Rugby from Leeds Tykes
©Steve Haag
World Rugby has confirmed the appointment of former Wales international Phil Davies as Director of Rugby.
Davies had featured in 350 games for Llanelli RFC between 1982 and 1995 apart from 46 Test appearances for Wales. Having started his coaching career in 1996, the 58-year-old had a 25-year experience working with teams including Leeds Tykes, Scarlets, Cardiff, Wales Under 20, Worcester Warriors, Llanelli RFC and Nuneaton R.F.C.
He also was the head coach of Namibia as they competed in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
Davies will report to Mark Harrington, Chief Player Welfare and Rugby Services Officer, in a restructured Rugby and Player Welfare department which will be responsible for community and elite rugby.
Within the department, Davies will be charged with shaping performance management processes for elite match officials, nurturing relationships with high performance national team coaches, advancing World Rugby’s relationship with players on performance matters and providing expertise and supporting emerging nations in sustainably bridging the competition gap at the highest levels of the game.
Davies, who has also recently consulted with World Rugby on emerging nations performance structures, will also play a key role in ensuring welfare continues to be at the heart of the law review process, as World Rugby looks to build on strong progress made in line with its six-point welfare advancement plan launched last year.
“I am delighted and humbled to be joining the World Rugby team and am looking forward to getting started," he told in a statement released by the governing body.
"I am passionate about the sport, its people and global potential and I believe that I can bring my experiences of playing and coaching in more than 20 nations over the past 35 years to support further growth and development to the sport both off and on the field, in particular in the important areas of welfare, sustainable high-performance programmes and laws evolution.”
