Powell: ‘The Plate win was meant to be for Matthew and Brecon’

“Matthew was two years older than me and was great to have around when I first went to Rodney Parade. He had played for Wales Youth with my cousin Ian McQueen beforehand so I knew of him through Ian.

“We were together at Newport for a few seasons before I went to France and then we were reunited at the Scarlets. We would share a lift and remained good friends.

“I look back at last season now and think it was just meant to be. I have a photo of Matthew, myself and our defence coach Matthew Lewis up my house that I look at every night and have a little smile. Looking at that drives me on and I know he’d want me to go on and do well.

“I invited Matthew to become Brecon backs coach alongside myself and he just said ‘why not’. He embraced that challenged as he embraced everything that he was faced with.

“He kept coming to training for as long as he could – he didn’t want to let the players down!

“I often wound him up but I think he enjoyed that. His last game with us was at Newbridge in the cup in January and there was still a lot of banter between us – on that day it was around the backs and forwards play.

“I think about him all the time and we can get back to normality, I think Brecon will put on a fundraiser for his family and I’ll organise a golf day too.”

Looking back at the biggest day in the history of Brecon, Powell firmly rates it amongst his best rugby achievements.

“I’ve done some of the greatest things you can do as a rugby player – played for Wales, the Barbarians, the Lions. But leading your hometown club to a final at Principality Stadium that can create once-in-a-lifetime memories with a close-knit team is something very special indeed – a fairy tale really. It was Brecon’s 150th anniversary and looking back I just think it was meant to be.

“It was certainly one of the best moments in my rugby career.”

While Powell has a reputation as enjoying the good side of life – he led his Brecon side through the town on a tractor parade after last year’s win – he says coaching has given him a new purpose and something he is keen to go further with.

“I firmly believe you should cherish and enjoy the good times. [Warren] Gatland was a bit like that as a coach – he gave you the opportunity to celebrate key moments providing your training didn’t drop off. And although I’ve had many coaches to draw coaching inspiration from throughout my career, Warren and my old Newport coach Ian McIntosh were certainly two of the best in my view.”

Powell started to put those influences into practice in his first coaching role.

“When I came to Brecon, I just said to the lads, ‘if we want to do this, we have to all be a bit more dedicated’. So that’s what we did – and the Plate was something we targeted.

“As a player I could be accused of turning up late or not putting everything into training but as a coach it’s a different kettle of fish. I like to turn up 90 minutes early, get everything ready and then relax knowing that everything is as well-prepared as possible.

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“Coaching is definitely something I want to take seriously. We have ambitions of further promotion with Brecon – we’d like to get into the Championship at least but I’d certainly like to test myself further as a coach too.”

Andy has spoken honestly about the difficult transition at the end of a career in professional sport and feels Brecon has given him the challenge he needed.

“I would encourage all players to get their coaching badges while still playing rugby or continue with their degrees as Jamie Roberts did. I never imagined being a professional player would come to an end, that really hit me for six.

“I felt I had to leave the game at the time but getting back involved with local rugby has been fantastic for me – I’ve found some much-needed stability and purpose at Brecon. Rugby always been big part of life and I have a drive for success again once rugby resumes.”