ED GRIFFITHS, CHAIRMAN OR TROUBLESHOOTER?

Griffiths: turnround
By PG Tips
May 9 2022

Bath have no fixture this week. There is in fact no Premiership rugby in a weekend given over to European Semi Finals, a level of the game that is a distant dream for Bath at present. So, in place of the usual preview, what to focus on? Most Rec fans cannot wait for this season to end and hope that, under new direction, the Blue, Black and White will rediscover winning ways and a return to joyful match days. A new coaching team will take the reins in the off season, with new players arriving. Perhaps the most significant new appointment though has already arrived – Chairman Ed Griffiths.

With over 35 year’s experience in sports administration Ed is best known as the CEO of Saracens from 2008-2015, the years of their transformation from premiership strugglers to Champions and leading contenders in Europe. Described by Gary Gold as “ an incredible administrator”, Griffiths can also claim CEO of SARU and consultant to South Africa’s bids for the 2012 Olympics (unsuccessful) and 2010 Football World Cup (successful) on his CV. Known for turning round underperforming sporting organisations (in 2017 his short term appointment was instrumental in saving Worcester Warriors from relegation) his forte is in identifying and correcting organisational weaknesses and creating robust and enduring management structures. So, will he be a “hands on” Chairman? He is unlikely to be personally involved with the playing side, coming from the “hire good people and let them get on with it” school of leadership. Gold again: “As much as you will see there is maybe problems on the field you can probably double that off the field. When Ed came along with me he played a significant role in all the off the field stuff.”

It was in Griffiths first year in charge at Saracens that the phrase “something special happening at Saracens” became the mantra of every new signing for the club. It seemed highly optimistic at the time- Bath scorning their ambition with a 66-21 humbling. I remember the incredulity when Bath’s Captain, Steve Borthwick left to join them. We all know how that worked out- he went on to Captain England, Saracens made the playoffs for 7 consecutive years from 2010, winning 3 Premierships and building the foundation for European Champions Cup triumphs in 2016, 17 & 19.

So what can hopeful Bath fans expect from Mr Griffiths? Crystal balls are notoriously murky, especially at the beginning of a turn round project and anyway, he alone will not shape the improvements Bath need- that will be down to the players and coaches. His time at Saracens gives some idea of what to expect.

First, he set about creating a club culture. Bonding sessions, team away days and involvement of families all played their part, but he also seeded Saracens through astute recruitment, bringing in good squad players with high work rates and a focus on the basics and offering second chances to quality players who had lost their way at other clubs. Tactics and choice of leaders were left to the coaches, but he had a major part in driving an “atmosphere” of positivity and graft, of selfless application in pursuit of results. If all that sounds relentless, it was, but time and space were made for fun; squad unity and morale even surviving a major “cull” of players in 2009.

When Ed arrived at Saracens they had no members of the England squad, by 2012 there were 4. The squad of 2015 which was to deny Bath glory in the Premiership Final could chose from 6 of England’s 6 Nations squad, 8 in the World Cup party, plus 9 other internationals from a total of 7 nations. No Saracen travelled with the Lions in 2009, but the next trip in 2013 had 3 in the original party, 1 more joining as injury cover. By 2017 there were 7, of whom 6 made the Test team. While some were recruits to the rolling Saracens bandwagon, the majority began their senior careers at the club.

In the first few years of their success, Saracens won few friends for their style of play, based on suffocating defence, territorial kicking and relentless pressure. Pundits though praised their work ethic, togetherness, and the quality of their basics. If error free rugby did not make for much cheer, winning did and by 2015 a high- quality backline had added flair and zip in attack. Bath fans may be treated to “rugby 101’ for a season or two, but if that reverses the decline of the past three seasons I doubt there will be many complaints.

A great success of the Saracens project was the very effective talent spotting, identifying young players with the attributes and skills to develop into top class Premiership and international players. These would be joined by experienced pros from all over the world, like Justin Marshall, Richard Wigglesworth, Kelly Brown, Marcel Bosch, a mix that delivered both winning results and accelerated development for the youngsters. Just as important has been the choice of coaches. Eddie Jones and Brendan Venter were among the early ones, but it was Mark McCall holding the reins as the trophies flocked in. Under McCall former players like Steve Borthwick, Alex Sanderson, Kelly Brown and Kevin Sorrell have all played key parts in the coaching team.

Johann van Graan, Joe Maddock, JP Fereirra and a clutch of new players will join Bath in time for pre-season. They will find a talented squad to work with. It will be their job to turn the playing fortunes around -they will feature in an off -season article.

Ed Griffiths’ role will be to create the optimum conditions for coaches and players to work in. At Worcester one of his successes was improvements to the strength and conditioning. Moving training away from Farleigh House has already been announced and Tom Dunn has referred to additional strength and conditioning staff joining. At Saracens Griffiths directed the recruiting efforts (with input from the DOR) and contracts negotiations. He is also noted, in Gold’s words as “absolutely tremendous at being a communication tool between ourselves and senior management that had been lacking before.” Perhaps these factors contributed to the sense of family and squad morale at Saracens? His record suggests there could be further management shake-up, if he thinks it necessary. Whatever the future brings under his chairmanship, it is likely to involve change, be energetic, focused and never dull.

While we wait for news of more signings, especially to reinforce the front five, let us acknowledge the opportunity Ed’s appointment represents. His role is Chairman, but his past activities show him identifying issues clearly and solving them- so he is also a trouble-shooter. Let us hope too that his stay is long enough, and his impact as effective, as at Saracens, to lay foundations and generate longer term success.