ONE of the architects of Welsh rugby's "House of Pain" has been given the task of helping to rebuild the image of the professional game in Scotland after being appointed Edinburgh Gunners head coach.
Lynn Howells, the former Cardiff, Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors and Wales coach who will take over the running of Scotland's top side on September 17, is a man of vast experience who is respected in the sport, not least in Scotland.
In 2000 his Cardiff side gave Frank Hadden a devastating lesson when the man who is now Scotland's coach made his first competitive trip as a fulltime professional and watched his Edinburgh team concede 80 points at the Arms Park.
A Rhondda Valley native Howells is, however, even more closely associated with Pontypridd, a side that did not lose at home to a Scottish team in several years of Welsh/Scottish and Celtic League competition.
It was that venue, Sardis Road, which became known as the "House of Pain", so inhospitable were the cloying surface and bleak surrounds when Neil Jenkins regularly booted opponents into submission through the 1990s.
Asked if he could make the Gunners as unwelcoming a side Howells said: "I hope so. It's very important, not only for the players, but for the supporters. One thing we identified was that it was about the support and we tried to play a brand of rugby the supporters enjoyed."
As forwhich of his past experiences he could draw upon most he reckoned that while he now finds himself in another rugby capital this task is more similar to that at the provincial club. "Pontypridd was pretty much the same. They had to fight their way through from the start of professionalism, " he explained.
While Gunners supporters have waited a year since Hadden's departure to find out who would be his permanent replacement, Graeme Stirling, their chief executive, rightly observed that the new management have worked relatively quickly in making the appointment with seven weeks of taking over.
Superficially Howells has the look of a grizzled veteran, making his and Stirling's coyness about the new head coach's age rather strange and inviting suggestions that it was a source of embarrassment.
As the likes of Bobby Robson and Alex Ferguson have demonstrated, the key to generating energy is maintaining enthusiasm, a quality Howells has always exuded.
He admitted to being devastated since the Welsh Rugby Union's decision to axe the Celtic Warriors, a Bridgend/ Pontypridd amalgam, after just one year in existence during which they had finished third in the first full season of Celtic League competition. Two years in Italy have allowed him to regroup.
Henry Edwards, the Gunners caretaker coach, knows Howells well as he was part of that Edinburgh backroom team at Cardiff six years ago, which should ease the handover. Howells is staying in Scotland for the next couple of days and has hinted that assistants Rob Moffat and Iain Paxton might well stay.
"I am conscious there needs to be a Scottishness about the coaching staff, " he said. "I picked young coaches in Italy to help develop them. When you are head coach it's important not only to coach players but to coach coaches so the club has a structure in place to go forward."
As for what must be done to improve the team's fortunes he said he will seek to motivate what he believes is a quality group of players to find greater consistency. While there is, apparently, a limited budget available he indicated, however, that he would be unlikely to make immediate, major moves into the transfer market.
Profile
age 56 Playing career back-row forward with Tylorstown, Penygraig and Pontypridd Coaching career Wales assistant coach 1998-2001; Wales caretaker coach (Japan tour) 2001; Pontypridd assistant coach 1991-98; Cardiff head coach 19982001; Pontypridd head coach 2001-03; Celtic Warriors head coach 2003-04; Leonessa director of rugby 2004present Achievements Swalec Cup with Pontypridd (1995/96); Welsh Premiership title with Pontypridd (96/97); Welsh/Scottish League title with Cardiff (1999/2000); Principality Cup with Pontypridd 2001/02
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