Rugby: Rowntree gets Lions role
Updated on 11 December 2008
England assistant coach Graham Rowntree will join the coaching team for the British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa next summer.
The former England and Lions prop takes the role of scrum coach under the direction of tour manager and former Wales winger Gerald Davies and Lions head coach Ian McGeechan.
He will work alongside the current Wales coaching trio of Warren Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley.
"I see my job as more harnessing guys, bringing them together," Rowntree said today. "I'll be working under Warren [Gatland] and the other coaches, and I'll be assisting Warren in all aspects of the forward play as he desires.
"It's a question of getting the best out of people, getting everybody on the same page, and going out there and being positive - respectful of the challenge we'll face, yes, but daunted by it, no.
"It's a very special experience the Lions. It's a long tour. Tours don't happen any more - you go abroad, you play a couple of tests and you fly home. But being away from home, away from your family, away from your mates, with tough opposition - it's a good test of where you are as a player mentally and physically."
Gerald Davies, tour manager
Gerald Davies, said he was "very excited indeed" about the coaching line-up.
"I think there is a good cross section of people there representing several nations. I think they're good quality coaches with proven ability," he said.
"Now that we have selected them, now that they have been in each others company the two things that impress me are how intense they are about the game, the quality of their thinking about the game, but also how they have gelled together as a group of people.
"I think that is an essential part of any Lions team - as well as good quality, talented players, that they are good people who are mixing well together. The coaching management team seems to have that quality at this stage."
