Ambitious Bahrain have grand plans to establish themselves among Gulf rugby’s elite and recruiting former Pontypool and Carmarthen Quins head coach Louie Tonkin as the club’s first full-time coach is certainly a good way to gain attention.
The club developed impressively last season, scoring a shock 13-12 win over reigning west Asia champions Abu Dhabi Saracens on the opening day of the 2016 West Asia Championship (WAC) season. They eventually tailed off but still won four of eight games to finish sixth.
It was a vast improvement on the previous campaign but the new man is aiming to take them to even greater heights.
“We want to win the league, I’ll make no bones about it. I want to do very well and I wouldn’t have come out here if I didn’t think that was possible,” said the 33-year-old Welshman.
Tonkin’s own rise has been remarkable. A former Welsh basketball international in his youth, he enjoyed a stellar playing career with Coventry, Gloucester Rugby and Llandovery before embarking on a coaching path that took him to Quins, who he led into the Prinicpality Premiership playoffs for the first time in 2013.
He became head of rugby at Cardiff University in May 2014 and combined that with coaching Pontypool in June last year. Desperate for a fresh challenge, Bahrain came calling and Tonkin arrived in the Middle East at the start of the month and has wasted no time in getting down to business.
Pre-season training started last week and despite arriving in the stifling summer heat, the new man has been busy on the recruiting front.
Wingers Bentley Halpin and Greg Heath will join from Tonkin’s old Cardiff University side and he will also be bringing over three players with Welsh Premiership experience in back rowers Aidan Laxton and Lawrence Reynolds, from Bedwas and Llandovery respectively, and Llanelli scrum-half Justin James.
Also coming in are hooker Lindsey Gibson and prop Davis Tui who have been playing in Australia’s National Rugby Championship for Melbourne.
“I wanted to get a really good core of players over. I know these boys, they’re good people and very, very good players,” said Tonkin. “One of the big reasons I was asked to come here was my network of players back in Wales. The existing squad has really impressed me as well. There’s a really good spine here.”
One thing Tonkin is already aware Bahrain lacked last year was depth. After their momentous victory against Sarries, they ended their WAC campaign with a 108-7 walloping at the hands of Harlequins in March.
“We’re going to go into the season with a really strong 30, that’s something I’ll work really hard to build,” added Tonkin.
“It’s a really ambitious club. They really want to do well and I want success. I’ve done a thorough review of what was in place last year and looked at loads of footage. There’s a lot of individual talent, I just want more structure, particularly in the set-piece. We’ve got some X-factor players and with those additions I think we can really start looking at taking down teams.
“My ambition is success and it’s something I’ll be starting to drive home in the next few weeks when the rest of the players arrive.”