Clive Griffiths has been appointed to the Non-Executive Board of Wales Rugby League as our new Director of Performance.
With extensive experience in high-performance environments across both codes of the sport, Griffiths will support all Wales Rugby League pathways and programmes to ensure players and coaches are able to perform at their best.
Griffiths’ first involvement with Wales Rugby League came in 1989 when he led the Students team in the Student Rugby League World Cup, before being appointed as head coach of the revived Wales men’s side in the 1991-92 season. He remained as Wales Students head coach until 1992, leading them to the semi-finals of that year’s Student World Cup.
His Wales men’s side won the 1995 European Championship, then reached the semi-finals of the Rugby League World Cup in both 1995 and 2000. Clive stepped down following the 2000 tournament after a memorable semi-final against Australia, going into coaching in rugby union and was part of the coaching staff that guided Wales to a Grand Slam in that code in 2005.
He returned to rugby league with Wales Students in 2009, coaching them to the Four Nations title, repeating that in 2012, then leading them to the 2013 Student World Cup semi-finals. He also returned to the Wales men’s side for a brief spell in 2009 as an adviser to new head coach, Iestyn Harris.
By that time, he was head coach of the new North Wales Crusaders club that was formed in 2012, leading them to a League 1 promotion and Northern Rail Bowl double, also in 2013. His success that year gave him the League 1 Coach of the Year award. From 2014-20, he went back to rugby union, coaching Doncaster Knights, leading them to National 1 title success in his first season back.
“I am delighted to return to Wales Rugby League once again,” said Griffiths.
“I am really looking forward to meeting everyone, to share ideas and to learn some more from established, new and talented coaches and administrators at all levels within the game.
“The first task will be to get everyone assembled to discuss an ‘as one’ way forward and develop a format which everyone can buy in and contribute to. This will help us to develop a player pathway which assists the expansion of a high-performing culture across Rugby League in Wales.”
James Davies, Chair of Wales Rugby League, added: “I’m looking forward to working with Clive again. I learned a lot from him which I’ve taken into organisations over the last 10 years.
“Clive is a born winner who brings the high support and high challenge that’s needed to be a successful organisation. It’s fantastic to have someone of his calibre supporting and guiding the excellent people we have involved across our pathways and programmes.
“We’re proud of the number of representative pathways we have in place, and we’re seeing some of the fruits of people’s hard work in many areas. With the addition of Clive, we’re excited to see how we can build on that and continue to provide the best possible opportunity for Wales Rugby League teams to be successful.
“Clive is a legend of the sport, both as a player and as coach. From discussions with him, he’s keen to pass on his experience and knowledge in any way he can to support the growth of the game in Wales. It’s great to have him back.”