Leeds Tykes chief Phil Davies lays a solid foundation to build on

Since their relegation from the Championship as financially-stricken Yorkshire Carnegie in April 2020, the Welshman has overseen the return to the Tykes name, a move of headquarters to West Park Leeds, assembling almost an entirely new squad and repairing damaged relationships.

That, of course, has all been to the backdrop of a global pandemic which saw an entire campaign of action wiped out so it was clearly an invidious task.

However, Davies has steadied the ship and seen progress on and off the field in National One.

Moreover, having brought ex-England full-back Jon Callard back to the club as head coach in November, he has been able to hand over coaching duties to now fully concentrate on his role as director of rugby.

That is where Davies, who had been commuting from South Wales, will be dedicating his time from hereon in.

Admittedly, Tykes have won just four of their 13 league games so far but improvements have clearly been made; in their one-off game back at Headingley on Saturday, they lost 19-13 against leaders Rosslyn Park having fallen in the away fixture 60-10 in September.