Clive Griffiths is back to coach Wales Students Rugby League for a third spell in his long career in rugby league.
The 70-year old first took charge of Wales Students from 1987-92 then came back and coached again from 2008-13.
And now, on the 40th anniversary of the first-ever official Wales Students international match, he’s back for another stint.
He will lead the new trialists in an open session at Cardiff Arms Park on Sunday 8th December, and he’s delighted to be returning.
Griffiths said: “I’ll just head it up for now. There are some really good coaches that we can develop to take this on and make sure it improves and continues long into the future.
“I put my ideas in front of WRL chairman James Davies and CEO Richard Hibbard and they said to go for it. I’ve had a successful stint coaching college rugby league at Carmel for the last couple of years and that’s wet my appetite a bit.”
Sunday’s trial date is historic. On Saturday 8th December 1984, coached by pioneer Dr Phil Melling and Stuart Stanton, Wales Students took on England Students in Wigan in what’s been recognised as their Wales Students’ first-ever “test match” (team picture below).
After that, it was over three years before Wales played in another official student international, and that’s where Griffiths was brought in by Melling, and has since coached Wales Students to all bar one of their honours in their 40-year history.
He then led Wales Students to World Cup semi-finals in 1992, 2008 and 2013, European Championship wins in 1989, 1990 and 1991 and Four Nations Winners in 2009 and 2012.
Griffiths’ first match in charge was against Scotland in 1988 where Wales won 29-28 at Knowsley Road as a curtain raiser to St Helens v Castleford. He then coached them to an historic 19-12 win over France at Stade Charléty in Paris, the ground that would host the first Super League game eight years later.
“That was an amazing landmark,” he said. “The French Students had never lost an international on home soil. It rained all day and we “mauled” them out of the game 19-12 and I remember the drop goal from Alan Hardman that sealed it. That was some achievement with a bunch of rugby union converts and no heritage players.
“Then came the World Cup at York in 1989. It was only the second Student World Cup and the first to feature Wales – it was Great Britain in the 1986 tournament.
“After the 1992 World Cup in Australia, I had a break from the Student side. I was just getting into my senior coaching career with Wales men after doing both sides for one season. In March 1992, we beat France Students at St Helen’s before the senior side beat them at The Vetch Field in the night, so that was a lovely day.”
Griffiths then coached the Wales men’s side to World Cup semi-finals in 1995 and 2000 before moving to rugby union for a while. However, rugby league was never out of his mind.
“I was asked to come back on board for the Student World Cup in Australia in 2008,” he said. “My son Rhys was a student at the time and I coached him along with players like Lloyd White, Gareth David and Rob Worrincy.
“And I stuck with it then for a time as I really enjoyed what we were achieving. We won the Home Nations in 2009 and I wanted to see what else we could do.
“Also, my younger son Owain became involved and I wanted to coach both of my lads at World Cups and we got to the semi-finals of the next competition in England in 2013 after winning the Home Nations the year before in Wrexham.”
At that time, Griffiths was head coach of the newly formed North Wales Crusaders, staying there for three seasons before coaching again in rugby union with Doncaster Knights. After retiring there, he was appointed as head of performance with Wales Rugby League earlier this year.
Wales Students have played over 120 matches in the last 40 years. As well as regular World Cup and Four Nations tournaments, there have been matches against touring sides from Australia, a memorable Europa Cup campaign in the Republic of Tartastan in 2001 and even a first round match in Rugby League’s famous Challenge Cup!
The other head coaches throughout the years were Wayne Williams, who coached Wales Students to a Four Nations win in 2004 then at the World Cup a year later. There was also Danny Sheehy (1993-2002), Stuart Singleton (2003), Jason Massey and Rhodri Thomas (2006-2007), Latham Tawhai (2014-2017) and Paul Emanuelli (2018-2019). No games were played from 2020-2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with this side reforming in 2023 and Craig Fisher coaching over the last couple of seasons.
To date, the Wales Students side have fielded 31 players who eventually turned out for the Wales senior men’s side, the most recent being Joseph Coope-Franklin, who played for both Wales sides in 2024.
“I’ve always kept in touch with what’s been going on and I wanted to ensure that the only way was up for Wales Students,” he said.
“We’ve Richard Lewis involved as a coach, he’s doing great things with Swansea University. I’m also delighted that Jonathan Burgess, who was assistant coach last season, has stayed on board, as well as Jarrad Vanagas, the team manager, as they kept things together in 2024. There’s also Andrew Perry on the medical side plus Mark Jones who will be assisting player ID, coaches and management, so we’ve six members of staff at the moment.
“The idea is for us to progress on the field, true to our values, and for that to continue in the years ahead. It all starts again on our 40th anniversary date this Sunday.”
If you are a student playing rugby league and want to register for the trial, please go to https://bit.ly/Students2025
