IT IS one of rugby’s cruel ironies that Harvey Biljon, who has transformed the careers of so many players, is still waiting for his own shot at the big-time. Around 30 players stepped up into the Premiership, several becoming internationals, during his hugely successful 10-year tenure at Jersey Reds and the 46-year-old takes immense satisfaction at seeing some of his former proteges flourish.
To name just six, Kieran Hardy, Will Rowlands and Callum Sheedy (Wales), Nick Haining and Gary Graham (Scotland) and Harry Williams (England) have all credited their time on the island as being pivotal to their success in reaching the top.
As such, there must be an underlining sense of frustration that at a time when his coaching stock couldn’t be much higher – following back-to-back league titles with two different clubs – the former Natal Sharks and Wasps No.9 is still waiting for his phone to ring with an offer that matches his standing after nearly two decades of coaching in the English game.
Biljon led the Reds to the 2022-23 Championship title but was denied the chance to take them any further when their journey came to an abrupt end and the administrators were called in 10 days after they had beaten Bath at The Rec. Biljon questioned whether it was all worthwhile but salvation came in the form of a call in November, from Rotherham’s charismatic chairman, Nick Cragg.
“Did I lose my appetite for rugby? There was a couple of moments where I didn’t know,” he admitted. “I wasn’t sure if I had the energy because it’s 24-7, you put everything into it, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. I’d like to thank everyone at the club for taking me on board.”
When Biljon arrived as a consultant the former Premiership club looked destined to be second-best to runaway leaders Leeds Tykes, especially when their county rivals beat them 26-20 in his fourth game. But his role became more permanent and all-encompassing in January and in tandem with head coach Gareth Lewis, Biljon drove up standards across the board. The Titans reeled off 15 bonus-point wins in a row, including a vital win over the Tykes at Clifton Lane, securing the National 2 North title at Billingham last weekend.
“When I arrived all the players were talking about was catching Leeds,” he said. “So we stopped talking about Leeds and started to focus on ourselves and what we did.
“When you look at the numbers in everything we’ve done you will see the improvement in unforced errors, penalty count, conversions of scores, not letting tries in. It’s been across the board. It has been really enjoyable getting back onto the pitch and going back to basics and coaching more and I thank the players for their buy-in.
“Being there is what rugby is all about. It’s been great to see the club come together and
