Shaun Edwards Faith isn’t a matter of praying for victory, Wales’s defence coach told a gathering of Catholics ahead of the Welsh rugby team’s 25-7 trouncing of Ireland last weekend.
Speaking on ‘Faith in a Competitive World’ to over 120 people near Cardiff’s St David’s Cathedral, lifelong Catholic Shaun Edwards said that as a boy he had regularly attended Mass because “I was scared of my mam” and that he was still serving as an altar boy when, aged 21, he captained the Wigan rugby league team.
At the talk, Mr Edwards identified his uncle, Wigan’s Fr John Johnson, as a major influence, and said “the Church has always been a part of my life”.
Claiming that the Church “has influenced me on how I do my job as a coach”, he said he did not shout at players as that has an adverse effect, that he makes a point of showing compassion for injured players, and that his Faith never obliged him to ask God to win, but only to be able to compete and survive injury.