Clive Ronald Griffiths (born 2 April 1954), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "Griff", is a Welsh former dual-code international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed rugby union and rugby league in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, at invitational level for the

Barbarian F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

, and at club level for

Llanelli RFC Llanelli Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Llanelli) is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872. The club's historic home ground was Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they moved in 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent Pember ...

, as a full-back, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

, and at club level for St. Helens and

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, as a or , and coached representative level rugby union (RU) for

(Defence Coach), and at club level for

Newcastle Emlyn RFC Newcastle Emlyn RFC ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Castell Newydd Emlyn) is a Welsh rugby union club based on the outskirts of the town in the community of Adpar, Ceredigion on the north bank of the River Teifi. The club currently plays in the WRU Division One ...

, London Welsh RFC (Assistant Coach),

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premiership. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History T ...

(Assistant Coach),

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

(Assistant Coach),

Doncaster Knights Doncaster Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club representing the town of Doncaster, England. The first XV are known as the "Doncaster Knights", and play in the RFU Championship. Being the most promoted side in English history has led to ...

(two spells),

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic ...

and RGC 1404 (in

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

), and representative level rugby league (RL) for

, and at club level for the South Wales and the

North Wales Crusaders The North Wales Crusaders ( cy, Croesgadwyr Gogledd Cymru Rygbi'r Gynghrair) is a professional rugby league club based in Colwyn Bay, Wales. They are the successors to the former Super League club Crusaders Rugby League. Crusaders compete in ...

, and as of 2018 he is the Director of Rugby at the

Background

Clive Griffiths was born in

Loughor Loughor () ( cy, Casllwchwr) is a Welsh town in the City and County of Swansea, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Loughor. The town has a community (Wales), ...

, Swansea, he was affectionately known as "Clive the Ship" after the family pub in nearby Penclawdd, he was a pupil at

Gowerton Grammar School Gowerton ( cy, Tregŵyr) is a large village and community, about 4 miles north west of Swansea city centre, Wales. Gowerton is often known as the gateway to the Gower Peninsula. Gowerton's original name was Ffosfelin. The village falls within the ...

, he is the father of the rugby league International footballers

Rhys Rhys or Rhŷs is a popular Welsh given name (usually male) that is famous in Welsh history and is also used as a surname. It originates from Deheubarth, an old region of South West Wales, with famous kings such as Rhys ap Tewdwr. It is pronounc ...

and

Owain Griffiths Owain Griffiths (born 18 July 1991) is former a Welsh international rugby league player who currently plays for the North Wales Crusaders. His usual positions is Hooker. Son of Welsh rugby league legend Clive Griffiths, Owain has established hi ...

International rugby union career

He represented the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

and on the international scene he was capped once against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in his last match for Wales on 17 March 1979. After winning his Wales B cap he was selected on the bench three times previously during the 1979 Five Nations but was an unused replacement.

Rugby league club career

On 16 August 1979 he switched codes signing for St. Helens rugby league club for a world record £27,000 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £183,200 in 2015), and making his début in the 28–16 defeat by

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

in the first round of the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hoste ...

Eccleston, St Helens Eccleston is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 10,433. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the early history of Eccleston is marked ...

on Sunday 19 August 1979. In exactly 100 appearances he scored 598 points from 276 goals, 8 drop goals and 11 tries. After playing his last match for the club against

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

On 9 October 1984 he joined

. He also coached at St.Helens and

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

before returning to Rugby Union.

Rugby league coaching career

In September 1986, he returned to St. Helens to take up the position of fitness conditioner and a move into coaching the

Wales national rugby league team The Wales national rugby league team represents Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is ranked 17th in the IRL World Rankings. The team was run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an indepen ...

led to some very creditable performances under his guidance including a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

semi-final match against the eventual winners Australia with a first half performance that gave Wales a half time lead. He spent 10 years with the Welsh rugby league team, twice guiding them to the semi-final stage of the World Cup and winning the European Championship for the first time in 57 years. He also enjoyed a spell as Great Britain rugby league coach in 1996.

Rugby union coaching career

Whilst playing for

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

Griffiths took up his first senior coaching appointment in 1977 at the age of 25 for

. His first professional coaching role in union was with

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seaso ...

for three seasons before joining Swansea as assistant coach in 2000. He later joined

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who is currently an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors until his resignatio ...

at the

again as assistant coach. Griffiths was appointed to the Wales Squad Coaching team on 1 July 2001 by Graham Henry and remained a part of the set up through the 2003

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

and five Six Nations campaigns, including the 2005 RBS Six Nations

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

where he was credited for his part in tightening Wales' defensive line, particularly in their tackling performance against England. In May 2006 he joined the then National One side

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

as director of rugby on a two-year deal, leading them to third place in National Division One. Clive Griffiths joined

as Head Coach and assistant to Director of Rugby

in June 2007 on an initial two-year deal. He went on to coach RGC 1404 North Wales rugby club who are being fast tracked into the Welsh Premiership.

Return to rugby league coaching

In November 2011 Griffiths signed a 2-year deal to coach

, the rugby league side risen from the ashes of the former Super League franchise

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

. North Wales play in the Cooperative Championships 1 division. After a winning eight out of 18 games, including three doubles, and just two more victories would have put in them in the end of season play-off competition. The following year The Crusaders won the double and were crowned champions and won the Northern Rail Cup and Griffiths was awarded Championship 1 Coach of the Year.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Clive 1954 births Living people Barbarian F.C. players Doncaster Knights coaches Doncaster Knights players Dual-code rugby internationals Great Britain national rugby league team coaches North Wales Crusaders coaches People educated at Gowerton Grammar School Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Swansea Rugby league wingers Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Loughor Salford Red Devils players South Wales RLFC (1995) coaches St Helens R.F.C. players Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team coaches Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league coaches Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players Worcester Warriors