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'I just can't wait to show the old TJ is back... hopefully I can prove a few doubters wrong'
By Online Editors
Tom James is gunning to making a lasting good impression after Scarlets snapped up the Cardiff Blues cast-off on a two-year deal on Tuesday.
Last capped in 2016, the 12-time Wales international had taken a break from the sport to treat depression, but his comeback last season didn’t reach the heights he wanted.
He felt he did enough playing for Merthyr, Pontypridd and Cardiff in the Welsh Premiership to warrant a shot higher up the ladder which the Blues weren’t willing to give him.
It was in May - less than six weeks ago - when he decided to take his chances, announcing that he was leaving the Arms Park after failing to get much of a look-in under John Mulvihill.
His gamble has quickly paid off. Scarlets have offered a 24-month contract that will see the 32-year-old turn up in west Wales next Monday to start pre-season training with the 2017 Guinness PRO14 champions.
“I can’t wait to get started,” said James in an interview with WalesOnline, the media outlet with whom he recently told his full story about his battle with depression.
“I’ve got loads to offer. Some people might think my best days are behind me, but obviously the Scarlets don’t think so.
“They saw my games at the end of the season and thought I was getting back to my best. They wouldn’t have given me two years if they didn’t think I was up to the job.
“I am a strong-minded person and come the start of the season I will prove a few people wrong. I am grateful for the opportunity.
“The way I am in myself, I just feel like I am a different person again. I just can’t wait to go down there and show them the old TJ is back. Hopefully, I can prove a few doubters wrong.
“You are going to have some fans out there thinking ‘Why have we signed him?’ But I know for a fact, when I look in the mirror, I will prove a few people wrong.”
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Special player. The full set.
Go to comments“He won a ECL and a domestic treble at the beginning of his career.”
He won 2 ECLs at the beginning of his career (2009, 2011). Since then he’s won 1 in 15 years.
“He then won 3 leagues on the bounce later in his career”
He won 3 leagues on the bounce at the start of his career too - (2009, 2010, 2011).
If we’re judging him by champions league wins, he peaked in his late 30s, early 40s. If we’re judging him by domestic titles he’s stayed pretty consistent over his career. If we’re judging him by overall win rate he peaked at Bayern, and was better at Barcelona than at City. So no, he hasn’t gotten better by every measure.
“You mentioned coaches were older around the mid-2010’s compared to the mid-2000’s. Robson was well above the average age you’ve given for those periods even in the 90’s when in his pomp.”
Robson was 63-64 when he was at Barcelona, so he wasn’t very old. But yeah, he was slightly above the average age of 60 I gave for the top 4 premier league coaches in 2015, and quite a bit above the averages for 2005 and 2025.
“Also, comparing coaches - and their experiences, achievements - at different ages is unstable. It’s not a valid way to compare and tends to torpedo your own logic when you do compare them on equal terms. I can see why you don’t like doing it.”
Well my logic certainly hasn’t been torpedoed. Currently the most successful premier league coaches right now are younger than they were ten years ago. You can throw all the nuance at it that you want, but that fact won’t change. It’s not even clear what comparing managers “on equal terms” would even mean, or why it would be relevant to anything I’ve said.
“You still haven’t answered why Kiss could be a risker appointment?”
Because I’ve been talking to you about football managers. If you want to change the subject then great - I care a lot more about rugby than I do football.
But wrt Kiss, I don’t agree that 25 years experience is actually that useful, given what a different sport rugby was 25 years ago. Obviously in theory more experience can never be a bad thing, but I think 10 years of coaching experience is actually more than enough these days. Erasmus had been a coach for 13 years when he got the SA top job. Andy Farrell had been a coach for 9 when he got the Ireland job. I don’t think anyone would say that either of them were lacking in experience.
Now - what about coaches who do have 25+ years experience? The clearest example of that would be Eddie Jones, who started coaching 31 years ago. He did pretty well everywhere he worked until around 2021 (when he was 61), when results with England hit a sharp decline. He similarly oversaw a terrible run with Australia, and currently isn’t doing a great job with Japan.
Another example is Warren Gatland, who also started coaching full-time 31 years ago, after 5 years as a player-coach. Gatland did pretty well everywhere he went until 2020 (when he was 56), when he did a relatively poor job with the Chiefs, before doing a pretty poor job with the Lions, and then overseeing a genuine disaster with Wales. There are very few other examples, as most coaches retire or step back into lesser roles when they enter their 60s. Mick Byrne actually has 34 years experience in coaching (but only 23 years coaching in rugby) and at 66 he’s the oldest coach of a top 10 side, and he’s actually doing really well. He goes to show that you can continue to be a good coach well into your 60s, but he seems like an outlier.
So the point is - right now, Les Kiss looks like a pretty reliable option, but 5 years ago so did Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland before they went on to prove that coaches often decline as they get older. If Australia want Kiss as a short term appointment to take over after Schmidt leaves in the summer, I don’t think that would be a terrible idea - but NB wanted Kiss as a long term appointment starting in 2027! That’s a massive risk, given the chance that his aptitude will begin to decline.
Its kind of analagous to how players decline. We know (for example) that a fly-half can still be world class at 38, but we also know that most fly-halves peak in their mid-to-late 20s, so it is generally considered a risk to build your game plan around someone much older than that.
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