Rugby has always been a game for all shapes and sizes. You have the superstars and the fast guys who score the tries, but you also need the workhorses and the people who play all the other roles. Unless they all work together as a team then it's really going to affect the performance. Everyone's got to rely on everyone else.
As a coach, I want players to challenge me, to question me and ask why we're doing a certain thing, so they feel that they're taking ownership.
My aim is to create a happy environment where the players are working hard, but enjoying themselves. You've got to enjoy yourself, and you've got to have a bit of fun as well.
If you play the game and you think about coaching, you should know it's about listening to people and learning.
We've all seen talented young players who get to a certain level but there comes a point where that talent will only take you so far. The great players go away and work on extra things. They work harder on their skills, they start having early nights and they think about their diet and training. That is what takes them to the next level.
Sometimes you have to put your balls on the line.
There's no better feeling than sitting on the team bus travelling to the Millennium Stadium knowing that the team will be playing in front of 74,500 people. You're driven through the crowds where you see the smiles on people's faces and I get a huge buzz out of that.
For me coaching was all about being involved, and taking the best qualities from the coaches I had as a player and moulding them into my own personality.
There are times when players have got to feel that if they work hard and they give everything, they get the carrot, but they also need to know that there's a stick. If performance, discipline or attitude isn't good enough, there is a bit of the stick and there will be a punishment.
Coaching is about not being afraid to be challenged and, above all, trying to enjoy the experience.
Having a social appetite for knowledge and wanting to develop and improve as a coach is important, but I believe in empowering people, particularly the other coaches that work with the team, giving them ownership and responsibility.
When you beat England at Twickenham you don't feel the need to make changes to a winning side, but there are areas we think we can improve
Whereas a good player might do something really good in a game, a great player might do something two or three times in a row. That's what great players do, but they also work incredibly hard off the field in terms of the extra effort they've put into making sure their own performance gets better.
I get on well with people and I have really good relationships with the other coaches around me. I don't know everything about the games and I'm still learning all the time, so it's important to have an open mind.
Attitude is really important to me and I talk about that with the players. Often players don't realise that if they've missed out on selection, the most important thing is how they respond to that. Of course they're going to be really disappointed, but if they're positive they're really supportive of the rest of the team.
In some ways the players are no different to kids as you've got to set boundaries and you've got to work within those boundaries. If you work hard and you do everything that's asked of you, there's great reward afterwards.
The attitude in terms of how players work both on and off the field has a massive impact on us as coaches but also the performance and how the team does as well.
A lot of coaching is about results and if you don't get the right results, you're going to get criticism, but if all things are going well then you can enjoy yourself.
Gethin Jenkins is one of the best loose-head props in the world. He hits up to 40 rucks a game, makes at least 10 carries and even more tackles. Those are amazing statistics for a prop and he is a very intelligent rugby player.
