World Rugby Appoints Phil Davies as Director of Rugby

(27 Jan 2022)  World Rugby has appointed Phil Davies as Director of Rugby. Phil brings a wealth of high performance, technical and people management skills to the role having spent more than 25 years coaching elite teams, including the Cardiff Blues, Scarlets, Worcester Warriors and Leeds Tykes.

He joins the international federation next month from the Tykes, where he is Director of Rugby.

Phil Davies

The former Wales international is also a hugely respected figure within test rugby and is no stranger to World Rugby’s high-performance programmes, having steered Namibia to consecutive men’s Rugby World Cups in 2015 and 2019.

Phil will report to Mark Harrington, Chief Player Welfare and Rugby Services Officer, in a restructured Rugby and Player Welfare department which will be responsible for community and elite rugby.

Within the department, Phil will be charged with shaping performance management processes for elite match officials, nurturing relationships with high performance national team coaches, advancing World Rugby’s relationship with players on performance matters and providing expertise and supporting emerging nations in sustainably bridging the competition gap at the highest levels of the game.

Phil, who recently consulted with World Rugby on emerging nations performance structures, will also play a key role in ensuring welfare continues to be at the heart of the law review process, as World Rugby looks to build on strong progress made in line with its six-point welfare advancement plan launched last year.

“We are delighted to be appointing a person of Phil’s experience, calibre and passion to this strategically-important position at such an exciting time for the sport,” said World Rugby Chief Executive, Alan Gilpin. “Phil’s profound knowledge and passion for the high performance and technical aspects of the game, coupled with the huge respect that he carries, will help us build on solid foundations forged by Joe Schmidt to increase our connection and collaboration with important stakeholders – players, coaches, match officials and fans.”

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