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Insider knowledge of Edwards' system could play to Wales' advantage says scrumhalf
Gareth Davies is planning to give Shaun Edwards a taste of his own medicine when the former Wales defence coach returns to Cardiff with France next week.
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Edwards spent 12 years in Wales as Warren Gatland’s lieutenant, a period of sustained success which brought four Six Nations titles, three Grand Slams and two World Cup semi-finals.
In that time, Edwards forged a reputation as one of the best defence coaches in world rugby – and Davies was a major beneficiary of his tactical know-how.
Davies says he got an insight into reading plays and mastered the art of the interception to score memorable lung-bursting tries.
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Among such scores were his 2018 Six Nations try against Scotland in Cardiff and the decisive 60-metre effort against Australia at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
“It was doing a lot of analysis work, seeing how different teams play,” Scarlets scrum-half Davies said of Edwards’ approach.
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“I’d have a couple of chats with him and he’d tell me what he’d expect the opposition to throw at us, so I could pop into the front line every now and again and try and pick a few passes off.
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“He was right quite a lot of the time. I’ve had a couple of intercepts from the analysis work I used to do with him.
“I do a lot of that stuff myself now, so hopefully I can pick one off against the French.”
Edwards joined France after Wales’ fourth-placed World Cup finish in Japan.
He said he had “no choice” but to accept France’s offer of a four-year contract over the two-year deal on the table from the Welsh Rugby Union.
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“We were a little bit disappointed he left us, but we’ve had Byron (Hayward) coming in and doing a great job,” Davies said.
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“I think everyone knows Shaun pretty well, he’s a world-class defence coach.
“It’s a big focus for us now leading up to the French game on how we can break that defence down.
“We know it’s pretty hard to break down as it’s a good defensive policy he’s got. So we’ll be doing a lot of work in training now.”
Davies was Wales’ first-choice scrum-half at the World Cup, but injury cost him his place at the start of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations.
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Tomos Williams has started the first two games against Italy and Ireland, although Davies played the final half-hour of Saturday’s 24-14 defeat in Dublin.
If he does start against France on Saturday week to win his 53rd cap, the 29-year-old will be up against Toulouse star Antoine Dupont.
“He’s probably one of the most in-form players in the world,” Davies said of Dupont.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence and seems to be making the right decisions all the time, which is an important area for a scrum-half.
“Whoever plays – whether it’s me, Webby (Rhys Webb) or Tomos – I’m sure we’ll have to be at the top of our game to keep him quiet.”
PA
