Brock James was one of Europe’s most influential players during a monumental decade with Clermont Auvergne in France. Now, his former teammate Lee Byrne reckons James could prove just as influential at the Ospreys, as he tells Graham Thomas.
Brock James has been pinpointed as the coach who can give the Ospreys back their wings.
The seal of approval for the region’s new attack coach has come from their former Wales star Lee Byrne, who was a clubmate of James’s at Clermont Auvergne.
After leaving the Ospreys, Byrne spent three seasons with the French club as they rose to become one of Europe’s major forces and has revealed he always felt the Australian fly-half would become a successful coach, with innovative ideas.
An early indication of his influence could come this weekend when the Ospreys visit Cardiff Blues in a derby clash that can be viewed in full on Sunday evening on S4C.
James arrived at the Liberty Stadium this summer as part of a clean sweep of fresh arrivals that included head coach Toby Booth and development director Mike Ruddock.
Byrne, in fact, was sounded out by Ruddock and says he had no hesitation in recommending James for his first full-time job in coaching after hanging up his boots at the age of 38.
“When I went to Clermont, we had this incredible star-studded back line, with Brock as fly-half,” says Byrne, who formed part of the club’s backbone at No.15.
“But even though he was still a player, he was more or less running the back line when I was there.
“Some players never really have aspirations to go into coaching and I was one of them. But there are others who you can tell are destined to become good coaches and Brock was definitely one of them.
“I think he can have a huge impact on the Ospreys. The Scarlets have had the best back line in Welsh rugby in recent years and you can see the impact Stephen Jones had there.
“The Ospreys haven’t been as impressive, but now I think Brock can have a similar impact to Stephen. It’s a really exciting appointment and if I was still an Ospreys player I’d be looking forward to this guy as someone who’s really going to add value.”
Byrne and James played in the same Clermont team between 2011 and 2014, before the former Lions full-back returned to Wales and joined the Dragons.
James stayed on at the club nicknamed The Vulcans for a total of 10 years, before playing for Bordeaux-Begles and finally La Rochelle.
He may only have begun his official coaching career with a player-coach role at La Rochelle, but Byrne says James was always the mastermind at Clermont.
His impact was monumental as the club won two French domestic titles and were European Heineken Champions Cup runners-up three times.
“He’s a legend in the town and the club, although he wouldn’t admit to it. There’ll probably end up building a statue to the guy eventually – that’s how influential he was.
“He was innovative, a thinker, and did things his own way. From what I remember he was one of the first guys to wear gloves.
“The back line he organised at Clermont ran like clockwork. The quality of the plays we ran there at that time was probably higher than anything I was doing with Wales.
Great Lunch out in Clermont with Brock James and family!! #GoodBloke 🍷🍷🍻 pic.twitter.com/mP4WUG9Df3
— Paul Turner (@paulturnerrugby) June 4, 2016
“That’s how good Brock was and I think the Ospreys will now get the benefit of that input and also Welsh rugby in general as so many players vital to Wales are based with the region.”
The Ospreys began their return after lockdown with a 20-20 home draw against the Dragons last week, but had to play most of the match without George North after the Wales wing was sent off for an early mis-timed tackle.
But even from that evidence, Byrne believes James’ imprint was clear to see.
“Brock’s been at the Ospreys for a few weeks now and obviously he’s not going to achieve miracles straight away and neither is Toby Booth.
“But the signs of improvement were already there for me and there is the potential now for them to really develop and score a lot of tries.
“I think James Hook will also prove a very important addition to the coaching team at the Ospreys and overall there’ve put an impressive operation in place.
La semifinal del #Top14 de 2010 entre #Clermont y #Toulon fue testigo de este auténtico bombazo de Brock #James. ¡Un lujito para ver una y mil veces! 🎯🇫🇷🔥#RUGBYxESPN pic.twitter.com/j1QkunWR6V
— ScrumRugby (@ScrumESPN) April 7, 2020
“Mike Ruddock is a great appointment, for his influence on and off the field, and these could be exciting times again for the Ospreys.
“When I was there, we had household names all over the team and it’s going to take a while to develop new stars like that.
“But I like the look of young Kieran Williams in the centre and Owen Watkin is still developing. There are exciting times ahead for the Ospreys, which is great to see.”
S4C – Saturday – 8.00pm Clwb Rygbi – Dragons v Scarlets
Join the Clwb Rygbi team at Rodney Parade for a full broadcast of the Guinness PRO14 derby match between Dragons and Scarlets.
S4C – Sunday – 9.00pm – Cardiff Blues v Ospreys
Join the Clwb Rygbi team at Rodney Parade for a full broadcast of the Guinness PRO14 derby match between Cardiff Blues and Ospreys.