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They are the four men at the helm of Welsh rugby's professional teams and, from this weekend, they will be fully under the spotlight for the next nine months.

So what are they really like? How often do they interact with each other? How do their rugby philosophies differ?

We managed to get them all in the same room at the same time to have a proper rugby discussion.

Here's how it unfolded.

You can listen to the whole chat on our podcast below.

Let's start with looking at the season - with four different scenarios for each of you. What are your ambitions for the season ahead?

John Mulvihill: Our ambition is to do better in the league. That's our bread and butter, the PRO14. We started off quite slowly last year.

It's important that we hit the ground running and get some wins early and don't let the competition slip away this year as it did last year. And I'm looking to make sure we try and build on the momentum that we had at the end of last year and carry that on.

Bernard Jackman: We obviously just need to get a bit of respect because we had a very poor season last year. Historically we've been poor. We're in a middle of a big rebuild. We brought in 14 players, we've let 21 go. We've brought in new staff.

So we're trying to get the team cohesion as quickly as possible and trying to get some consistency of performance and, more importantly, some consistency in selection. We used 64 players last year because we had a huge injury crisis.

We're hoping to get our best players on the field regularly and get some understanding and implement our game plan but it's a race against time.

(Image: INPHO/James Crombie)

Wayne Pivac: We want to keep building to be honest. I think if you sit back in this game, relax and think that you're something special or it's just going to continue to happen, I think you're going to get caught.

Just like all four sides, we want to keep improving and not only do well for the club but to assist the national team with a World Cup around the corner. So for us it's it's trying to do the double - be involved in the play-offs hopefully in both competitions.

It's not going to be an easy task but for us it's blending in the new players that have come on board. You've got some big boots to fill in John Barclay and Tadhg Beirne in particular and we've got a bit of work to do early with Ulster and Leinster the first two up.

Allen Clarke: Similar to the others. Try and get off to a decent start, get the best out of each other and enjoy what we do. I think that's important and then, at the back end of the season, be in the mix for competitive honours and trophies.

This is the first season where we haven't had a Welsh coach in charge of a region. All four of you are from outside the goldfish bowl that is Welsh rugby. I'm sure you all realize what a minefield it can be. How do you deal with that?

BJ: I think we put enough pressure on ourselves internally to try and get performances and get results. So external pressures are irrelevant really I think. We should have confidence in our ability to put together a rugby programme and to create the right environment and trust that results will come from that.

But I think it's good being in a goldfish bowl to be honest because you work in a country where rugby is a passion. It was the same in France for me and and it's the same in Ireland at the moment and that's what you want.

You want to be in a place where results and performances matter. You can actually affect people's weekends and the start of the following week with your performance and that's a good motivation.

WP: It is no different in west Wales where we are. You talk about the goldfish bowl, I'm into my fifth season now and certainly it hasn't always been highs. The first couple of years there was a lot of work to be done.

A lot of change was made and we understand that it's very much a community club and, as Bernard says, we can affect people's lives in terms of our performances. You can make someone's week, you can also ruin it if you like. So we know that we owe it to the community to do a good job and we wouldn't have it any other way really.

AC: The attention is similar to home. In Ulster, rugby is one of the only professional sports. There's no getting away from it. It's part of the gig.

What I've seen of the people that we represent, and I probably speak for the whole of Wales, is that they respect people that give everything they've got. If you get your wins, obviously that's brilliant.

But in those situations where you don't win games, as long as you've given effort and you've exhausted all possibilities in the game, supporters will be disappointed but they'll also respect the boys have put it in.

JM: Well, the Cardiff Blues region is massive and I suppose if we look over recent history, it's probably underachieved a little bit. The expectations will be quite high now after that the Challenge Cup win at the end of last year.

There's probably no greater expectation to have than on yourselves and the players have on each other as well. People go to work each week and work hard to buy their tickets and we've got to make sure that we do the right thing when they come through the gates and they get to get a good experience.

(Image: INPHO/James Crombie)

So we'll be working hard and our expectations are high. There's going to be some games where we don't win but as long as our heads are in the contest and we're doing the best, for all the regions, your supporters will hang in there with you.

It's not always going to be good but they seem like they are they hang pretty tightly, these Welsh followers. So I'm looking forward to it.

WP: Come down to my local supermarket, it's not always like that!

Having all been in John's position, have you got any advice for him?

BJ: Just communicate well with your staff, people above you and your players and you're fine. I think the thing about coaching and trying to create a winning team is, as Wayne said, there's highs and lows, it's about sticking together, trying to make a good plan and following through on it together. The Welsh people do appreciate hard work and once you're consistent in that, there'll be no problem.

AC: You've got to be able to take it on the chin because the guy on the street knows. The game is not that complicated and they know what good is and what good isn't. You've got to roll with the highs and also take the lows on the chin.

John, when you were at the Western Force, Matt Giteau came up to you and said he wasn't a world class player but he wanted to be, so you sat down with him and went through every facet of his game. How regular an occurrence is that?

JM: It's not just the younger guys that you've got to work with. Some of the older players still have the ambition to be better and each of us have those players in their club. You don't just assume they're the finished product.

They might have played 50 tests for Wales but they want to be remembered as a great player. Those guys worked just as hard as the young guys do and I think we just need to provide the environment where all of them can get better and then we as coaches extend those international players to try and push them up as well.

How often is that a scenario that happens elsewhere around the regions where senior players come to you saying they want to improve?

BJ: If you've been keeping the right players in the right environment, then you'd hope that all your senior players have that attitude because that's the type of senior player you want who's going to look to get better and be a really good role model for the next generation. I think that's definitely something we have and we all want to keep.

WP: Your older, more experienced players were once young guys in the team and it's getting that understanding that they've got that senior role to play within the group. We've tried to create an environment which allows the players to be the best they can be.

It's a pretty simple formula really. The players at the Scarlets are driving the standards. We occasionally have to remind the odd player here and there but the senior players drive it. We've got to a stage where they enjoy coming to work and I think once you get to this stage, it makes your job that much easier.

(Image: INPHO/James Crombie)

You talk about John coming into the Blues and their recent history, I think if you get that environment right, the players want come to work and work for each other, then that's half the battle won. It's believing in what you're doing and not getting caught up too much in what people might be saying online.

The keyboard warriors as I call them - we've got plenty at the Scarlets! It's just staying true to your beliefs and getting that environment right. All players, no matter where they are in the world, they all love playing the game. They play for the same reasons that we did so it's keeping it pretty simple. Every day I get up and I enjoy going to work so it's not a bad place to be.

AC: It's about your environment. You want it to be powerful, you want players to drive it. Those guys don't become senior players because they've lost ambition. That's why they are senior players.

It's often the guy that doesn't have the ambition that drops out of the system. You're trying to get younger players and shorten that journey for them so they appreciate what good is and they're doing it on a consistent basis.

Wayne, in the past you've talked about a five-year plan, the fifth year was always going to be challenging for Europe.

AC: You lucky man!

WP: No, it was a three year plan. We nailed it!

No, from our club's point of view, when I arrived, we'd always been in Europe. They've always been in the top echelon of Europe but I think we were just comfortable qualifying for Europe and if we made the playoffs that was an exceptional season.

If we'd have kept doing the things that we did at the club, we probably would have kept achieving the same result so we had a bit of a plan. We stuck to that and there was some change made and now the club wants to move on from the success of winning the PRO12 a couple of seasons ago.

Obviously to make sure that we're in the playoffs on a regular basis but also competing in Europe so we were able to do that last season. The challenge for us is to carry that on. The club has ambition, they want to win Europe within the next couple of years and that's easier said than done.

(Image: INPHO/James Crombie)

There are some teams with some pretty big budgets out there and it's going to be an almighty challenge. Leinster have raised the bar and done exceptionally well.

But what we did learn from the losses to them last year was what they had done in 12 months to turn around an embarrassing loss in their back yard when we had 14 players for over half the game. So if Leinster can do that in 12 months, why can't we?

We're looking at ways that we can bridge the gap and if you can bridge the gap on Leinster, then you're not far away from winning Europe. It is going to be a big, big step over the next couple of years for the club but we'll be doing everything we can to try and give it a real shot.

You joked about nailing the three-year plan but it's probably quite a serious point. If you look at the last three winners of the PRO12/PRO14, it's been a coach who's been in his third year. Is that something you look towards?

BJ : I think it's going to take time to get us to the level of the other regions. But we expect to see a big improvement this season. We have to see improvement on the field. We have enough talent now to be competitive and obviously we're ambitious.

We want to make the Champions Cup as soon as possible. For that, we're going have to keep looking to be able to retain our best talent which the Dragons haven't been able to do in the past. Thankfully we tied down a lot of those youngsters on three-year contracts which has given us some stability.

But we need to be aggressive in the recruiting market to bring in talent that can help us get there quickly. When I look at all the top teams, they are always looking forward and looking to add to their backroom or playing squad.

Next summer, we'll have to be pretty busy again. Less busy this time but more specific in what we need to help us get there but definitely we expect see a big improvement this year.

WP : People need to understand when you come into an organization from the outside, you inherit the backroom staff normally. People are contracted and you inherit a squad so most of our players are either on two or three year contracts so, the first year, you've got what you've got.

The second you can make some change. The case of the Scarlets, probably half the team rolls over one year, the other half the following year. So it wasn't really until I was in my third year that I had the management team and the players that I'd handpicked.

At that stage, you can't point the finger anywhere else. You've got what you got. It's what, with your budget, you've been able to recruit. So I think people need to be patient.

But that third year is a big year for a coach. I've just bought you another year!

BJ : Thanks mate!

JM : You might have a massive plan in three years time. But I wouldn't have got the job at Cardiff Blues if I said in three years time we'll do something. Our plan is next week we'll do something so we'll we all have our short-term goals of where we're going to head to.

And you have monthly plans and maybe after round four or five, you say this is where you want to be. And eventually you get through your season and then you can reassess it and say where we're going to go next. I've inherited the same group, the same foreign players because they were all signed before we got here.

There needs to be a bit of patience. And if we get some patience and get some consistency and recruitment. So it is a bit of a slow burn but you've still got to look at every week. We need to turn up and win.

It's sort of a different situation for you because the other coaches have come in to underachieving regions. You're literally coming in off the back of European success with a settled squad.

JM : I also look at the PRO14 where we lost the first five or six last year and put us out of contention and then finished fourth. So our guys have got a burning desire to finish better than that. If we do finish better than fourth in our pool, you make finals.

And once you make finals, it's just game by game then. So our target would be to do better in the league and then we're back into the Champions Cup again so try and snag a couple of home wins and get some good performances away and again we will build on that.

And then we look at our recruitment and the cycle just keeps going forward but you can't lose sight of what's right here in front of you. Otherwise, you'll never get to the top.

AC: We all dream but we're all realists and the reality of the job is that it feels like a three week contract at times. You lose three games on the bounce, the next game is an extremely pressurized one.

But within that, you have to stick to your values, your processes and your principles and be true to yourself ultimately. Earlier we discussed the pressures of the position that comes with the job title. But fundamentally it's how we grow as a group and, along the way, can you ride those moments?

There are tight moments and I think it's important that you stick to your values and your principles in those moments of darkness - and it is darkness - and really enjoy the wins.

How much of compromise as a coach is there in terms of philosophies and values?

AC: I don't think you can compromise on values. For me it's just trying to keep your head. If you lose your head, then you pretty much lose the changing room.

You can probably fire two or three bullets in a season. But if you're continually doing that, then you'll lose the changing room. It's a bit like telling your son he's not good.

JM : It just becomes white noise at the end if you just keep losing it.

AC: If you keep hitting your dog, it won't come to you when you want to pet it.

WP : For us, it's having acceptable behaviors in our group. Just making sure that the actions that we ask for, the boys live those on a daily basis. That's all we ask. That they're disciplined to do it on a daily basis. We've got four key words but it's actually living them on a daily basis. And that's just something that we don't compromise on.

BJ : I think you hopefully retain or recruit people who have a similar way of looking at things that you have. That's the key. Allen said about firing bullets. It's just having consistency in terms of how you see the environment looking and consistency in how you play the game and being able to communicate that message to the players.

That's the key, it's about consistently doing the right thing over and over again. It's not rocket science.

(Image: INPHO/James Crombie)

JM : Yeah, we keep it really simple. We've only got one rule and that's be on time. If you're on time, you've turned up with the right attitude and you're not going to let your mates down.

You can sit there in the changing rooms beforehand and talk about things outside of rugby because you're prepared and ready to go. We've got heaps of policies on how we're going to play the game, what kit we wear afterwards, how we speak in public and all those type of things.

But it's just pretty simple - just turn up, be there and they enjoy walking through the door. We've kept it very simple.

AC: We're talking about men at the end of the day. Good men who have probably got more knowledge in certain positions than we have and so it's how we blend that together to perform at its best. You want to be challenged but you also want to be supportive.

Allen, you deliberately haven't done any Edinburgh analysis yet despite having footage. Is that a regular thing?

AC: They've only played one pre-season game. I think you'd be remiss to start building your strategies on one game.

You're looking more for trends. When I was a younger coach, you can get too bogged down in what the opposition are doing. Learning from the likes of Joe Schmidt, he would deliberately change players to cause confusion.

For me now it's more about focusing on your own systems, your own processes and your own basics. Get the fundamentals of the game right and then progress from there.

What is that ratio of focusing on the opposition and focus on yourself?

JM: Pre-season is 100 per cent focus on yourself.

BJ: Pre-season is very misleading. Careful what you see. Every coach is using pre-season games for different reasons. If you're chasing wins as your main target, then you're doing it the wrong way.

Even during the season I think you still need to look at yourself more. Obviously for lineouts etc we'll obviously have a good look. We need to develop our own game, we're not at a stage yet where we've were comfortable over our own gameplan to be obsessing with the opposition.

WP: We're probably 75/25 and we are a reasonably settled squad and management team. With all the technology these days, you should be able to write down on an A4 piece of paper this is how we're playing this week but you've got to be able to stop us.

So it's pretty much making sure we're accurate in what we do. We've got our skill sets honed and we'll know our roles within the game plan and we go out there and work for each other.

The amount of analysis you can do, I think you can overdo it. You can give players too much information. Go out there and let's deal with what they throw us.

Because you can have all the best laid plans in the world but the other team can change a few things and what you've trained for doesn't happen. So we've still got to be able to adapt and work things out during a game.

JM: We didn't watch any Exeter or Leicester footage because we had things we need to work on. We will be looking at Leinster going in. We will look at a 10-day lead into our first game and then, like all the coaches do, you look at the last three games once you have them.

Do you feel a responsibility to be developing more Welsh coaches within the setup?

BJ: I think as a head coach we have a responsibility to develop every member of support staff in our system. That's obviously part of our job.

So obviously from my point of view if we could find somebody in the Dragons who can replace me or bring people on, then that's something we get reward from because you actually have helped move someone up the ladder. Definitely there are opportunities for people to develop in our organisation, I'm sure it's the same everywhere.

WP: We've got some good young coaches in Rich Kelly and Dai Flanagan to name a couple coming through. Ioan Cunningham, our forwards coach with the Scarlets, a lot of people wouldn't know he's just turned 35.

(Image: INPHO/James Crombie)

AC: Definitely. We have Richard Fussell, Andrew Bishop and Duncan Jones at the Ospreys. Duncan is taking the scrum with the senior squad and working within our academies and he is fantastic with the energy he brings. If the people are good enough, it doesn't matter where you're from in my world.

If you use Duncan as an example, his credibility will come through his coaching. He has a certain shelf life in terms of his playing career but ultimately it will come through coaching because the best players, as we've already discussed, want to be challenged and they want to be put into an environment where they are going to develop.

We've got you all around a table together. How often do you as coaches interact with each other?

JM: As much as we can I suppose. We're thrown together once a month. I've had dinner with Bernard and one of his staff members who I've known previously but we'll get to all catch up I'm sure.

WP: I didn't get the invite Bernard!

BJ: Sorry about that! We'll sort that out and find a good Irish pub in Cardiff! I think with Allen and John coming in, there's definitely a more collegiate attitude in Welsh rugby that I've noticed over the last 12 months. All the regions are working closer together, not just at head coach level but at CEO level and chairman level.

The way forward for Welsh rugby is to share our knowledge and experience and to work together to make Welsh rugby be competitive not just at international level but at regional level and at underage level. I think that's definitely been a big change in 12 months which is great to see.

One final question. How do you relax as coaches after all the grind.

AC: That's pretty easy...

WP: I like a nice pinot noir. I also enjoy golf.

AC: I don't mind a drop of Malbec or a pint of Guinness to be honest. A sip of a Guinness after a good performance is a good place to be.

BJ: A day at the races.

JM: So it looks like we're going to the races at some stage and we'll be drinking a little bit of wine on the way. I think just getting out of the environment a little bit and not walking through that door helps you relax a little bit. You don't go watch rugby.

WP: Cheltenham's a good day out.

BJ: It's a great day out!

WP: We'll all go there this year!

AC: WalesOnline too!