Easterby named as player coach at Scarlets

Easterby, 33, who is Ireland’s most capped flanker, has been with the Scarlets for a decade joining in 1999 and has played 187 games for the region throughout his 14-year professional playing career.

He was captain of the Scarlets for five consecutive seasons before recently announcing he would step down – with Wales international winger Mark Jones now taking up the reins as the new captain at Parc y Scarlets.

Easterby, who continues as a senior player in the Scarlets first team now turns his attention from the captaincy to a coaching role with specific responsibility for working with the forwards on the contact area and developing line-out.

He said: “This is something I’ve thinking about for a while. It’s an opportunity that I am delighted to have been given and I’m really looking forward to it particularly with the group of new players we have joining us and with such a promising group of younger talent coming to the fore.

“Obviously, I have been looking at options as I move on from my playing career. Working as a coach will be a great new challenge for me and one that I am going to relish.

“The Scarlets region has been such a big part of my rugby career for the past 10 years and I want to continue to play a major part in how we progress and develop.

“The transition to coaching won’t happen overnight but I have many years working with some of the game’s best coaches. I’ve taken a lot from that and will be putting the knowledge I’ve gained and these experiences into practice as a player coach, as well as looking to develop my own style.

“I think I have a lot to contribute and in time I will look to stamp my mark on key areas of our game. As a player as well as a coach, I have the advantage of being on the pitch to try to lead by example and put into practice what we have been working on during training.”

Easterby will be working closely over the next month with the Scarlets coaching set-up alongside Nigel Davies, John Muggleton and Brad Harrington on key focal points for his coaching role.

Easterby is the third Scarlets “player coach” to be appointed at the region with former Scarlets players Wayne Proctor and Nigel Davies both performing the dual role before moving fully into careers as first team coaches.

Scarlets Head Coach Nigel Davies said: “This is another example of how we are looking to develop our rugby future from within our region as we provide opportunity for the great talent we have within our set-up.

“Simon has always been a major asset to the Scarlets both on and off the field. As a world-class player, he has a depth of experience that can be channeled effectively in a coaching role. He is a committed rugby individual and a true Scarlet. Technically he is very astute and he commands great respect from all the Scarlets players.

“We now want to give him the opportunity to prove himself further as a player coach. He will also have the support of the coaching team on all aspects of process and planning delivery and we believe he will have a positive impact on our campaign in the forthcoming season.”

The announcement of the new player coach role was made following confirmation that forwards coach Paul Moriarty has left the region. Paul Moriarty has been part of the coaching set-up with the Scarlets for six years, first joining the region in 2003 from Swansea under former Scarlets Director of Rugby Phil Davies.

The Scarlets wish to thank Paul for his significant contribution and commitment to the rugby region over a number of years as an integral part of the first-team coaching set-up.