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Wales scrum-half Davies apology over brutal Dragons verbal smackdown
By Online Editors
Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies has been forced into an apology after ripping apart the Dragons in the aftermath of the Scarlets 33-8 PRO14 win at the Millennium Stadium.
The match was part of 'Judgement Day' where all four Welsh regions played, and it was Davies' withering judgement of the Dragons that caused major controversy.
Assessing the Dragons, Davies said they were guilty of "bringing us down to their level, which is very average".
It's been a horror season for the Dragons winning just two of their 21 matches in PRO14, the last of which was back in September when they beat Conference B bottom club Southern Kings 29-13.
But Davies has apologised for his comments.
Scarlets Head Coach Wayne Pivac elaborated "I would like to clarify that. Gareth was one of a number of players who were pretty frustrated after the game, probably because I may have put a bit pressure on them, which I did intentionally, just to challenge them about going for five points.
"I have had a chat with Gareth and he formally apologised to Bernard Jackman on Sunday in writing.
"Bernard has replied to him and understands so they have had a good conversation about what was said in the media and I don't think you will see a repeat of that.
"I am very pleased that Gareth has taken the stance that he has in terms of straight away, waking up the next morning, understanding what he had done and putting it right the best he could."
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Video: The Dragons Lair
Meanwhile, the Scarlets have recruited two new scrum-halves for next season with Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and Kieran Hardy joining the club.
Aled Davies is heading for the Ospreys, so Scottish international Hidalgo-Clyne and Hardy will vie with Davies and Jonathan Evans for a starting spot.
24-year-old Hidalgo-Clyne was out of contract at Edinburgh this summer.
Hardy is Scarlets Academy graduate, but the 22-year-old made a move to English Championship side Jersey ahead of the 2016-17 season, where he has impressed.
He played for Wales Under 20s in the RBS 6 Nations and Junior World Cup in 2015, having previously played for his country at both Under-16 and Under-18 levels.
Commenting on the news Pivac said; "We’re delighted to be in a position to welcome both Kieran and Sam to the Scarlets. Kieran makes a return to his home region having had a couple of seasons to continue his development in the Championship with Sam bringing with him a wealth of Guinness PRO14 and international experience from Edinburgh. With Aled moving on and Gareth away during the international window it’s important to have strength in depth in each position."
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Latest Comments
That 2019 performance was literally the peak in attacking rugby under Eddie. If you thought that was underwhelming, the rest of it was garbage.
I totally get what you're saying and England don't need or have any God given right to the best coaches in the world... But I actually think the coaches we do have are quite poor and for the richest union in the world, that's not good enough.
England are competitive for sure but with the talent pool up here and the funds available, we should be in the top 3. At the very least we should be winning six nations titles on a semi-regular basis. If Ireland can, England definitely should.
England's attack coach (Richard Wigglesworth) is Borthwick's mate from his playing days at Saracens, who he brought to Leicester with him when he became coach. Wigglesworth was a 9 who had no running or passing game, but was the best box kicker in the business. He has no credentials to be an attack coach and I've seen nothing to prove otherwise. Aside from Marcus Smith’s individual brilliance, our collective attack has looked very uninspiring.
England's defence coach (Joe El-Abd) is Borthwick's housemate from uni, who has never been employed as a defence coach before. He's doing the job part time while he's still the head coach of a team in the second division of French rugby who have an awful defensive record. England's defence has gone from being brutally efficient under Felix Jones to as leaky as a colander almost overnight.
If Borthwick brings in a new attack and defence coach then I'll absolutely get behind him but his current coaches seem to be the product of nepotism. He's brought in people he's comfortable with because he lacks confidence as an international head coach and they aren't good enough for international rugby.
England are competitive because they do some things really well, mostly they front up physically, make a lot of big hits, have a solid kicking game, a good lineout, good maul, Marcus Smith and some solid forwards. A lot of whst we do well I would ascribe to Borthwick personally. I don't think he's a bad coach, I think he lacks imagination and is overly risk averse. He needs coaches who will bring a point of difference.
I guess my point is, yes England are competitive, but we’re not aiming for competitive and I honestly don't believe this coaching setup has what it takes to make us any better than competitive.
Go to commentsHe’s not got back his form and fitness back after his Achilles' injury. Scrum has been okay, if he can get his fitness back you imagine winning some matches could turn his game around. Tahs will have no excuses next year with their playing and coaching roster. He’s struggled in 24, let’s hope 25 is his year.
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