Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel admits he is relishing the chance of being in charge of a side for the first time.
Peel played for the region before leaving for Sale and his coaching career started as an attack coach with Bristol before moving to Ulster.
The ex-Wales scrum-half has taken over from Glenn Delaney at Parc y Scarlets.
“I am excited by it. I was privileged to accept the role and am delighted to be given the opportunity of being head coach,” said Peel.
The 40-year-old was initially meant to be linking up with Cardiff for 2021-22 after signing a three-year deal in December 2020.
Peel was eventually announced by Scarlets in April 2021 and takes charge for this season.
“It’s great to be home,” said Peel.
“It was a difficult situation at the time, but I am delighted things have been done.
“It was strange coming through the door and getting the new kit. It is nice to see some familiar faces and it’s been going well.
“The boys have adapted and we have had a good few weeks together and I have a good group of staff around me.”
Peel also believes his time away from Wales has helped him develop.
“It has been good from a few aspects,” said Peel.
“You gain a different perspective on things and learn other ways of doing things and work with different people which has been huge for me.
“It also helps to have the view from the outside of Wales, which includes coaching against Welsh teams and that has been handy.”
Scarlets style
After Scarlets’ struggles of last season, Peel intends to introduce his own style to improve their fortunes.
“Consistency of performance is important,” added Peel.
“There was a lot of talk when I came back of what we needed to play, what was called the ‘Scarlets Way’.
“Now what is that? We want to play quick with the ball and traditionally we have had some good backs and forwards here who can handle well.
“If we do that, that’s great. Everybody wants to come and see some entertaining rugby.
“Ultimately though, it’s your habits around physicality and defence and what you do in general attack is what’s going to be important for us and we have spoken a lot about that.
“Standards need to be high around what is not considered the flashy stuff.”
Peel is also hoping he can help improve the fortunes of the Welsh regions who have struggled to impress in recent seasons.
“The perception from the outside is there are a lot of good players and the whole is not as good,” added Peel.
“That is a big driver for me coming here and I want to push that. It is the responsibility of ourselves to make sure that changes.
“The representation of the region and what we stand for is going to be important – I know that having grown up here and played for this region and club.
“That will not be lost on the players and it does matter.”
Peel’s first game will be a home pre-season match against Nottingham on Saturday, 4 September before the opening United Rugby Championship match at Edinburgh three weeks later.
His first side this weekend will be missing a host of first-team players with British and Irish Lions quartet Ken Owens, Wyn Jones, Liam Williams and Gareth Davies not back in training after the summer tour of South Africa. It is also prop Jones’ wedding day.
No return date for Davies
Flanker James Davies still has no definitive date on when he can return after suffering concussion while playing for Wales in November 2020.
“It’s a cause for concern for himself and for us as a group,” said Peel.
“It’s day by day, there’s no fixed timeline as to when he’ll be back. The big thing for him is he’s right in himself and we’ll support him in that as much as we can.”
Scarlets fly-half Rhys Patchell also has been absent since Wales played Scotland in October 2020 in the delayed Six Nations match.
Patchell has overcome his own concussion issues before his return last season was delayed by a hamstring injury with a further niggle suffered in pre-season training.
“On both of them, there is no definite date to return, but they are progressing in their recoveries,” added Peel.
“They are working hard in the environment and getting back to where we want them to get to but we are not going to push them.
“They have been out for so long we need to make sure they are right before they integrate.”
Scarlets flanker Josh Macleod is also in line to return this season after suffering an Achilles injury in training ahead of Wales’ Six Nations clash with Scotland in February, when he was due to win his first cap.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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