The Principality Premiership is familiar territory for Davies, while Llanelli is very much his rugby ‘home’ after 331 games for the club over 15 seasons, six of which he was captain. Add in a stint as the head coach of the Scarlets region and it is easy to see how embedded he is in the history and psyche of the famous tin town and its teams.
Having steered Cardiff to the title in 2009, and helped RGC 1404 gain promotion to the Premiership last year, Davies spent time as a coaching consultant at Swansea last season. Now he has to find a way to guide a very young Llanelli squad up the table to try to taste some of the massive success he enjoyed as a player at the club.
“You never forget your first game for this club. I was 18, Ray Gravell was the captain and I scored two tries against Penarth – job done!” recalled Davies.
“It’s great to be back here and after six or seven sessions I can see the huge potential within this group of players. They are very young, with an average age of around 22, but they are hungry to learn and keen to succeed.
“The Premiership is a great grounding for players, coaches and referees and underpins the pathway into elite rugby at regional level. It is going to be incredibly exciting for all of us and there is massive enthusiasm.
“My fellow coaches Paul Fisher and Dai Flanagan have been great and we’ve had sessions at a number of local clubs. I hope we can build links with teams in our area to ensure we don’t miss out on any of the rich seam of talent that has always been in existence in the teams in the region.”
Llanelli ended up in Tier 2 last season and kick-off their campaign with a home game against Carmarthen Quins in the west division of the new-style tournament. Then they hit the road to Colwyn Bay in Round 2 for a clash with one of Davies’ old teams.
“I’m going to miss the game in North Wales because I’m away in Los Angeles for a World Rugby coaching course. That’s a great shame because what they’ve achieved up there is fantastic and it should be a great occasion,” added Davies.
“They had a fantastic debut season in the top flight and won the WRU National Cup. I think they might find it a bit harder this season, but they are still going to be among the contenders.”
