The BAFTA Cymru nominated ‘Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience’ show spent a month filming with WRU staff and children from the West Wales club at the start of the season, when Gilbert experienced life as coach at the heart of grass roots rugby.
The Carmarthenshire-born star TV star was put through his paces on the course which is designed for volunteers running teams at U7 to U13 level throughout rugby clubs in Wales.
He also trained with the Women’s national side at the WRU National Centre of excellence to sample what coaching is like at the elite end of the game, before putting his newfound knowledge into practice.
The comic took regular training sessions with the U8s in preparation for the climax to his show, the season opening invitation festival hosted at Parc Dr Owen in Whitland, which included sides from Loughor, Llangwm, Milford and St Davids.
The 47-year-old played rugby locally until well into his 20s and professes to have never scored a single point despite a 10 year plus career as a back, but has relished the opportunity to coach.
“In TV, there’s an old saying… “never work with children or animals”, but in my experience, that’s always the most fun, and the Whitland kids were no exception…natural TV stars, all of them,” said Gilbert.
“The children have been hilarious, and the experience of coaching at this level of the game is one which I’ve found to be particularly rewarding.
“You don’t necessarily realise all the hard work that goes into a weekend festival like the one in Whitland, with up to fifteen visiting teams from around the area across all the junior age groups.
“The coaches and managers at Whitland and the many other clubs throughout Wales are all volunteers and they give up their time for the love of the game and so the kids can play.
“I have found the whole experience to be exhilarating, not without its challenges, but ultimately, very, very rewarding.”
Last year more than 800 coaches passed through one of the WRU courses at various levels as the Union aims to upskill, enthuse and support its network of volunteers throughout the grass roots game.
To book a WRU accredited Level 1 course or for any further enquiries about the range of coaching courses available visit wrucoachinglocker.co.uk
“Rhod took to the task extremely well, he was the life and soul of the group as you’d expect, but he also took things very seriously and wanted to get things right and do a good job when he went out to his chosen club,” said Jonathan Evans, the coach development officer at the WRU who trained Gilbert in the fine art of coaching at the junior level of the game, when he joined one of the regular courses held around the country.
“Just like a lot of the coaches who come to do the Level One course, which is specifically designed to help the volunteers that are the lifeblood of the game throughout the country, I’m sure he was sceptical about what advice he would receive and maybe even worried about what would be required of him.
“But we offer a general grounding in coaching for all and we are extremely accessible. We do try to set a standard so we are all coaching in the same way, but the main aim of the course is to give the volunteers, who are out safeguarding the future of our game, the resources, knowledge and confidence to do the best job they can.
“We have a relevant course out there for every coach at every level and we are very much hoping that Rhod Gilbert will inspire people to follow in his footsteps – both existing coaches to get themselves officially qualified and for new coaches to join a local club.”
The coaching course is a 1st4sport Qualification developed in partnership with the RFU, SRU and WRU and is open to anyone coaching the game of rugby union at a junior level, with clubs in Wales incentivised to get their coaches trained up by a WRU reward scheme.
Whitland chairman Jason Bowen made Gilbert an honorary vice-president of the club in gratitude for his efforts with the young Borderers side.
“Rhod has made a great impact on the club and you only have to look at the hundreds of children and parents who came along to our festival to be able to see that in real terms,” added Bowen.
“He has sprinkled the club with a little stardust and the children and parents will remember the experience for many years to come.
“We are blessed to have a great pedigree of ex-players supporting Whitland RFC, not least three current stars in Scott Williams, Jonathan Davies and Mike Phillips, who is still a kit sponsor for the junior sides.
“And now with Rhod as an honorary vice-president and his show hitting television screens everyone in Wales will be able to see what a great club this is, with the children the stars of the show.”
