1st XV Management & Coaches

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Dave Ward was interviewed by Neale Harvey from The Rugby Paper, published Sunday 5th July 2020.

“Newly appointed Ampthill forwards coach Dave Ward is taking an alternative approach to honing his skills this summer – by teaching tennis to youngsters in Guildford.

With the Championship on a back-burner until November at least, the livewire former Harlequins hooker has swapped his rugby boots for a racket and is serving up half-volleys to eager students whilst cranking up his coaching knowledge for a shot at rugby’s big time.

Ward, 35, admits he is no Roger Federer, but tells The Rugby Paper: “I’ve always loved tennis and although I’ve never played to any great standard, I’m a qualified Level 2 coach and am currently studying for Level 3 whilst doing some coaching with local kids.

“I needed a summer sport and have been doing this for a couple of years now. As we’ve seen in other sports like rugby and football, you don’t need to be a great player to be a good coach so this keeps me ticking over and it’s giving me a new perspective on my coaching.

“A lot of coaching skills are transferable and one thing I bring to tennis which a lot of coaches don’t is the tactical side of the game. Conversely, I think there’s a competitive element in tennis that I can take back into rugby in terms of that killer instinct and sheer will to win.”

Ward, who will take sole responsibility for Ampthill’s forwards next season after Mouritz Botha moved on, makes no secret of his ambitions to coach rugby at the highest level.

He explained: “I loved the scrum coaching last season and I know what I want to do post-playing now. I want to be an elite coach, there’s no doubt, and it’s just about taking the right steps and getting some really good experience at Championship level under my belt.

“I’ve been coaching for ten years in the lower leagues with teams like Guildford and I’m enjoying it at Ampthill, so I want to earn my stripes and do the nitty-gritty first.

“To finish fifth last season was a massive achievement and most of the credit has to go to Mark Lavery and Paul Turner for the foundations they’ve laid. But as a coaching team myself, Mo Botha and Darryl Veenendaal came together very well and I really enjoyed that.

“To now become forwards coach is what I wanted and to cut my teeth at Ampthill is brilliant. I’ll still be playing but it will fall on me to make sure I get the most out of all the forwards and whilst that’s a big challenge, it’s one I hope will set me up for a future career.”

Ward has not been short of expert guidance, adding: “I was lucky to sit down with Eddie Jones before the lockdown and one of his best bits of advice was to keep winning as a coach because then you build your reputation and there’s no real substitute for that.

“You go around, you learn, you go to watch England training and you tap into guys you’ve worked with before – and I’ve been lucky to work with amazing coaches.

“Michael Foley at Bath was one, with his attention to detail and no-nonsense style, and then there was the man-management of Chris Stirling at Pirates and Conor O’Shea at Quins. John Kingston, Alex Codling and now Paul Turner, they’ve all been great mentors.

“Chris Boyd let me do a couple of days at Northampton last season, so I’m trying to take in all these different experiences and become the best coach I can be.”

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Ampthill Rugby Club

1 week ago

The June 2020 edition of the newsletter is now available for members and supporters – update on 1st XV coaching team for 2020-21, Covid-19, and the clubs initial plans for return to training plus the Mini & Youth report for 2019-20 season.

www.ampthillrufc.com/members-newsletter-june-2020/ … See MoreSee Less

Members Newsletter – June 2020 – Ampthill Rugby

www.ampthillrufc.com

Members Newsletter – June 2020 1st July 2020 June 2020 update Share this:Filed Under: 1st XV, Mini, Notifications, Youth

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Ampthill Rugby Club

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Dan Biggar and Lewis Ludlam among 19 to sign new Saints deals … See MoreSee Less

Dan Biggar and Lewis Ludlam among 19 to sign new Saints deals

www.therugbypaper.co.uk

News and opinion from The Rugby Paper – the UK’s no.1 selling rugby title. On sale every Sunday in England and Wales and available worldwide digitally.

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Ampthill Rugby Club

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Whilst we are in an enforced break from rugby, we would like to thank our Primary, Senior and Main Partners for all of their support during the 2019-20 season.

We will be adding more content to Ampthill_RUFC_TV over the coming months so please do Subscribe to our Channel and we’d appreciate you sharing our videos with your friends.

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1st XV Management & Coaches

Botha, Mouritz

Bremner, Iain – 1stXV Team Manager

Bright, Anna – Performance Support

Brown, Alan

Dwyer, Michael – Performance Manager

Lavery, Mark – Director of Rugby

McLagan, Jim – S&C Coach

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