Scarlets remove Gareth Williams as defence coach
- Published
Gareth Williams was part of Wayne Pivac's Wales backroom staff from 2020 to 2022
Scarlets have removed ex-Wales assistant Gareth Williams as defence coach following a disastrous start to the season.
Williams makes way as part of a shake-up of the Scarlets coaching team.
Assistant coach Jared Payne takes over the defence role and will share the attack job with head coach Dwayne Peel.
Williams, who joined Scarlets in 2022 having worked with Wales under Wayne Pivac, has been offered a new position with the region's academy.
Scarlets have confirmed the changes took place last week, before Friday's 42-7 defeat to Munster, and said Williams is still "considering" the new post.
Albert van den Berg (forwards) and Emyr Phillips (scrum and contact area) will continue in their roles.
Williams previously held positions with Wales Under-20s and spent 10 years coaching Wales Sevens on the World Rugby series.
But Scarlets have won only two league games this season and failed to win a single match in Europe.
Peel saw a host of first-choice players leave last summer due to the drastic budget cuts across Welsh rugby and lost some experienced campaigners through retirement and injury.
But they have conceded at least 30 points in more than half of their 14 games so far this season, which kicked off with a record 63-21 loss at Bulls.
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