Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson believes his four-week secondment with Wales this summer will benefit both himself and his club.
Wilson has passed up the opportunity for any post-season downtime after accepting the role as forwards coach for the two-Test tour of Japan.
Instead of sunning himself on holiday, Wilson will be a member of Matt Sherratt’s backroom team and the 48-year-old from Somerset is relishing being involved with Wales again, having previously worked for the WRU and as Sherratt’s boss at Cardiff. Those roles have now been reversed.
“I left Wales and my role at Cardiff in 2018 and I have some really happy memories,” said Wilson, who has coached the Under-20 side in the past.
“I first worked with Matt at Bristol and then having seen how good he was, I was desperate to bring him to Cardiff.
“We had a pretty good time together and then went our separate ways into different projects after a pleasing end by winning a bit of silverware with Cardiff (2018 European Challenge Cup).
“We work well together and dovetail a fair amount, but we are responsible for different areas.
“I’m very respectful of who is in the head coaching role. He was very supportive of me in our period together at Cardiff, and likewise, me now.”
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Wilson left Wales to forge his career in Scotland, working as forwards coach for the national team between 2018 and 2020.
He then spent two years at Glasgow Warriors before moving on to Harlequins in 2023, a role he will resume “when I get off a flight from Japan”.
Instead of returning burnt out by the demands of coaching Wales on top of a long season with Harlequins, Wilson believes the experience will refresh him and improve him.
“It is a great opportunity for me, and I think I will come back a better coach for the experience of having another crack at international rugby.
“It is the main holiday period, but I see it as a refreshing challenge for me. I won’t be head coaching, I’ll be assistant coaching, I’ll be assisting Matt, and me and him have worked very closely in the past. So some of the responsibilities are not quite as big.
“I get a chance to dive into some of the detail and depth that I have always dived into, but to another level, and I still get that balance. I think I will come back fresher for it, and there are other opportunities (for holidays).
“There are breaks in our pre-season where we all go on holiday later in the year anyway. We’ll be into block one of pre-season when I get back and then I’ll get a break and I will probably take a holiday then.”
It is a pivotal summer for Wales, who head to the Far East on the back of a record 17-match losing run. If things go badly, Japan will move above Wales in the world rankings, which could negatively impact their draw for the 2027 World Cup.
Wilson knows plenty about the challenges facing Wales in Japan after being part of the Scotland set-up at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Scotland were eliminated at the group stage after suffering a shock 28-21 defeat to Japan in Yokohama.
“There are big challenges around the humidity and cultural differences,” said Wilson.
“We did a huge amount of work on the humidity side of things and that is already being done.
“Greasy balls is an obvious challenge. I remember going out there and in the first few training sessions, there were a lot of balls on the floor.
“There is a very passionate and hungry group of players here. In the short time I’ve got to know them, I’ve found them to be a very responsive group to coaching.”
Wales suffered a 17th straight Test defeat – a record for a Tier One nation – when hammered 68-14 at home by England in March.
They play Eddie Jones’ Japan in Kitakyushu on July 5, with the second Test in Kobe a week later.
