Scarlets favourite James Davies has taken on a new role at the region after being forced to retire earlier this year due to concussion.
The flanker's last game as a professional was in the autumn of 2020, when he earned his 11th cap for Wales against Georgia. But an 18-month battle with severe concussion symptoms ensued. Announcing his decision in April, Davies felt he had no option but to walk away after making every effort to continue his career.
"In the end I just knew it wasn't going to work," he said at the time. "It was scary really and showed my vulnerability."
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But it turns out the larger-than-life 31-year-old won't be leaving the world of professional rugby, or even the Scarlets, after being announced as the region's new Recruitment and Operations Officer. In the role, Davies, affectionately known as 'Cubby', will work underneath General Manager John Daniels and Head Coach Dwayne Peel.
Explaining the loose brief of the role, Daniels said: “It is great to have someone of Cubby’s experience and calibre as part of our off-field operations.
“There are two key elements of this role – one is to be the main interface with agents and to develop relationships, because as a club, we want to be the one of choice for their client.
“The role is also to facilitate the internal processes of succession planning and identifying retention and recruitment targets. Ultimately, Dwayne and myself will have the final say on that, but it is a critical process in the business and it needs somebody to facilitate it effectively.
“If you look at football, there will be teams of people doing this and we will be challenging Cubby to get out there to improve on our processes to make sure we remain sector leading.”
Davies, who has more than a century of appearances for the Llanelli region and represented Team GB at the 2016 Olympics, has a business degree from Bristol University and also has his own company 'My Cubby Case', which sells travel accessories for pets.
Daniels added: “Apart from his very recent experience of what is required to become a top pro rugby player, Cubby’s biggest qualities in being able to fulfil the role are the relationship-building, emotional intelligence side of what is required.
“If you think of his playing career, he knows what the Academy is all about, but came through a different route, he came through a semi-pro route. He played sevens and ended up winning a PRO12 championship and playing internationally at sevens and 15-a-side. That is a fairly broad experience to be able to draw on when looking at a role like this.
“Even before his time recovering from injury, he always had an interest in this side of the game, but when he was injured we were able to talk about the specifics and it piqued his interest. It also showed me how much of an asset he could be to the business.”
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