Ospreys Rugby are delighted to confirm the appointment of Dan Griffiths to the role of Elite Youth Performance Manager.
33-year old Griffiths replaces Damian Karauna, who has left the Ospreys after seven years service having been offered the opportunity to return home to New Zealand as Skills Coach with the national sevens team.
He steps up to his new role having spent the last two years operating as a ‘C’ Group Coach on the Ospreys development pathway, working with aselection of carefully selected young players aged 16 to 18 who attend the Ospreys’ Llandarcy HQ between 7 and 9am daily for specific rugby and fitness work ahead of their normal college day. He has also worked closely with the three higher education colleges in Ospreylia, managing the region’s unique college development programme. Since February of this year, Griffiths has combined these duties with the role of Backs Coach at Bridgend Ravens, a role he will continue to fill.
The appointment sees the Ospreys again making significant additional investment over and above the WRU’s development infrastructure and Dan will be working under the watchful eye of Regional Performance Development Manager, Andrew Millward.
He now assumes responsibility for the hands-on development of the strategic direction for the Ospreys age-grade rugby teams, helping to ensure effective delivery of the respective programmes. In addition, he will continue to work with another Ospreys appointment, C Group coach Mefin Davies, and WRU skills coach Shaun Connor to assist with the delivery of technical and tactical development.
Speaking about his new role, Griffiths said:
“This is a great opportunity for me to continue my development as a coach and I’m really excited to be taking up the post. Since coming to the Ospreys I’ve been fortunate to work alongside some great coaches who have really helped me improve, and this is the next step for me.
“When you see how the likes of Steve Tandy and Damian Karauna, who have done this role previously, have developed and grown, you can see what a great opportunity it really is. With the support of everybody at the Ospreys, I’m looking forward to playing a bigger part on the player development pathway while using that experience to become a better coach myself.”
Originally from Carmarthen, Griffiths was a fly-half who spent seven years at Newport RFC, featuring on two occasions for the Dragons. In 187 Newport appearances he scored 1,551 points, an all time club record. In 2010 he moved to Bridgend where, under Tandy’s stewardship, he helped the Ravens to promotion back into the Premiership at the first attempt.
Ospreys Chief Operations Officer, Andrew Hore, said:
“The role of Elite Youth Performance Manager is a vital one within the unique Ospreys development structure, and any individual appointed to that role not only has to possess the right characteristics and skillset, they also have to be committed to development from within and continuous personal improvement. It is an influential role that has such an impact on young players coming through the development pathway, and as such, it’s important that we identify the right person.
“Dan has been a part of our development structure for over two years now, working with the likes of Steve and Damian who have held this post before him, and has not only a real understanding of the position, but he has displayed a real aptitude for development.
“We are delighted to be able to confirm Dan in this post and wish him the very best of luck as he continues to develop as a young coach. Development from within is at the heart of what we do, and with another talented young coach progessing along the pathway it is clear that we are living our values.”