Who is Steve Tandy: Ten things you should know about the Lions assistant coach

Steve Tandy, the former Ospreys flanker, is part of the coaching team for the British & Irish Lions 2021 tour to South Africa.

Here is more background information on the Scotland defence coach.

Ten things you should know about Steve Tandy

1. Tandy was born on 16 January 1980 in Tonmawr, Wales and was a pupil at Cefn Saeson Comprehensive School in Neath.

He left Neath College in 1998 with a BTEC National Diploma in Sport and a HND in Sports Coaching.

Tandy also played in the college rugby team between 1996 and 1998; winning the Welsh Schools Cup, British Colleges Cup and British Colleges 7s competition.

2. Tandy played, as a flanker, for Neath from 1998-2003, playing 40 games, and for the Ospreys from 2003-2010, making 102 appearances.

At Neath, he started an apprentice contract on the same day as Shane Williams, the legendary Welsh winger.

3. Tandy coached Tonmawr RFC, then Welsh Premiership side Bridgend Ravens for two years from 2010, immediately after finishing playing, before taking over at the Ospreys.

4. Tandy was just 32, when he took the main job at the Ospreys, and won his first game in charge, against Aironi at the Liberty Stadium, 23-7.

5. Tandy was so young when he was appointed at the Ospreys he played with some of the players named to go to South Africa in 2021 with the British & Irish Lions including Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Dan Biggar.

6. At the Ospreys, Tandy won the Pro12 title in 2012 after taking over mid-season. His side beat Leinster 31-30 in Dublin to take the trophy, after beating Munster in the semi-finals, in what was Shane Williams’s last game for the region.

7. Tandy left the Ospreys in 2018, after a 24-7 Champions Cup defeat to Clermont Auvergne, but was not out of work for long.

In November that year he was appointed defence coach of the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby under head coach Darryl Gibson.

Waratahs chief executive Andrew Hore had been at the Ospreys when Tandy was put in charge of the region. At the Waratahs he shored up the defence with the famed ‘Blue Wall’.

Related: The evolution of Lions defence coach Steve Tandy

8. Tandy originally had gone to Australia to develop his coaching with Gibson but was given a full-time role in 2019.

Tandy, who had lived with Gibson and his family, reduced the franchise’s points conceded per game rate by nearly ten a game.

9. Tandy joined the Scotland staff under Gregor Townsend in December 2019 and in two Six Nations tournaments since they have conceded just 150 points.

Ireland had the next best defensive record in that period with 190 conceded, England 198, Wales 201, France 220 and Italy 417.

10. Tandy was offered the chance to join Wales’ coaching staff on their summer tour for games against Tonga and Samoa in 2017, when Warren Gatland, Neil Jenkins and Rob Howley were on British & Irish Lions duty. He turned it down because of family commitments.

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