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Ex-Gloucester boss David Humphreys is back in rugby 4 months after leaving Kingsholm

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Ousted Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys is back in rugby after agreeing to take up a high performance consultancy role with Georgia for next month’s Autumn Nations Cup. 

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The Eastern Europeans face Ireland, England and Wales in their Nations Cup group and Humphreys will link up with them four months after he decided his future was best served away from Kingsholm where he had been director of rugby since a 2014 move from Ulster.

Gloucester had endured a difficult 2019/20 after reaching the May 2019 Gallagher Premiership semi-finals and with Johan Ackermann exiting for Japan, Humphreys soon followed him out the door at the English club 18 days later.

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The Breakdown reflects on the Bledisloe Cup action between the All Blacks and Australia

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The Breakdown reflects on the Bledisloe Cup action between the All Blacks and Australia

Humphreys won’t be the only former Premiership coach assisting Georgia as Neil Doak, his old pal from Ulster, will work as backs and attack coach after he finished up this year at Alan Solomons’ Worcester.  

Explaining his decision to dip into an international rugby scene he hasn’t been involved with since winning the last of his 72 Ireland caps in 2005, Humphreys told BBC Northern Ireland’s Sportsound Extra Time: “The job came about very quickly.

“Georgia were not initially due to be involved in the Autumn Nations Cup but have replaced Japan, who were not able to travel due to Covid restrictions. Given that Georgia sit outside the top 10-ranked teams in world rugby, it was always going to be a challenge to get them prepared for playing some of the best teams in the world.

“Myself and Neil were asked if we could try and support Georgia by giving them a bit of an insight into the teams we will be facing… primarily, my role is to come in and support the Georgian coaching team that is already in place. Some of the insights and the knowledge we have of the teams we will be playing against, that is where we add value to the staff that are already there.

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“Georgia have huge ambitions to progress beyond where they are in terms of being a tier-two nation. They would love, at some stage, to join an increased Six Nations. There is a huge amount of latent interest in rugby in Georgia.”

 

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H
Hellhound 1 hour ago
South Africa will beat England at a canter

You forget that this was the 3rd Test between the AB's and the English this year. They were prepared and they knew how to keep NZ quiet. The Boks is not NZ.


The Boks is a whole other level. You overestimate England and underestimate the Boks. Clearly you haven't really looked at the teams. Besides the Irish games earlier this year, the Boks have mainly used experimental sides, even against the AB's.


Now they have chosen their best team available. They have targeted this game. The Boks mean business. Man for man, this Bok team is better. In strategy and player abilities there is no comparison and they are outmatched.


There isn't just monster strength, but unreal speed. In broken play there is currently no better team as well as defensively, not to even talk about the attacking threat, both from front and the back.


I'd say read between the lines, see what everyone is seeing, but clearly you are wearing blinders and is also putting too much emphasis on an AB's team the Boks beat twice this year, the same AB's that beaten England 3 times this year.


When Rassie gets serious, the players become machines. There is no stopping them. That bench is loaded with players that is fast, strong and have exceptional skills. This is a team not many teams will face before the 2027 WC, because the Boks doesn't use their best between WC's in one game. All experimental.


You will be proven wrong on Saturday and then you will wonder how you could have been so wrong. This Bok team means serious business. They came to conquer and not just by a close score. They want to demolish and they will. This England team at most is a 60 min team. Against the Boks that just won't cut it

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H
Hellhound 1 hour ago
South Africa will beat England at a canter

Not bizarre, but needed. Everyone usually lifts their game against the Boks. Now instead of facing reality, they prefer to live in the past and look hopefully toward the score of the WC semi, hoping they can recreate that result and by some miracle snatch a victory.


It's better than the alternative knowing what is going to happen. Especially looking at the experimental squads the Boks put up against the Wallabies in the RC, not using their best team. That same Wallabies beat them last week.


Now the Boks isn't using an experimental squad. They put out as close to the strongest team the Boks have available at the moment. That must scare the pants off of them. If an experimental squad can destroy the Wallabies, what would the strongest team be able to do to the English?


Instead of sinking into dispear, they prefer to hope that their players can match the Boks. Even though they know what is coming. The English are scared and they won't show it.


Now imagine how Wales must feel knowing they are up next weekend? They don't even have the dubious record of at least close losses like the English. It's a complete nightmare for these 2 countries and rightly so.


The Boks usually take the pedal of the medal post WC's, but not this Bok team. They are better than the WC winning Boks of both '19 and '23. They are stronger up front. They are faster at the back. They can hit front and back. In broken play they are the most dangerous team. They have the best defence and attack also scoring the most tries.


In a way I feel sorry for both the English and Wales. Only those with blinders on expects a close game. Looking at both teams man to man, strategy to strategy, play to play, they are so outmatched it would be a joke if it wasn't so serious. We need the NH to be strong and we need the gap to become closer in rugby so the game stay exciting because runaway scores sometimes is fun, but it doesn't bring as much joy as a close game won.

14 Go to comments
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