Dai Fussell will combine his role at Ashford with that of youth coach at Wasps

Ashford Rugby Club have brought Dai Fussell back to his home town to fill the role of head coach ahead of the new season.

An experienced Level 3 coach, whose former clubs include London Welsh and Henley Hawks in the national leagues, Fussell will continue to work part-time for London Wasps as a youth coach having just returned from Milan, where he spent four days coaching while representing Wasps.

He said: "I was offered other coaching positions, both in Kent and nationally, but felt now was the right time to get involved with my hometown club. There is a burgeoning youth and mini-section at the club, which is founded on the back of sterling work from people such as Nick Marston, Steve Kellam and Carolyn McVitie.

"There are also some committed young coaches at the club, such as Ian Kelsey and Ty Conibear whose hard work continues to yield success."

Setting out a no-nonsense criteria for success, Fussell said: "The key thing that I and the other senior coaches – Tony Kendall and Neil Crossley-Roberts – will be looking for is reliability. Should we select one player ahead of another, we expect that player to turn up on time, fully fit, and with club kit ready to play.

"Another criteria will be commitment. So, if players can’t be relied upon to attend training on a Tuesdays and Thursdays, then we will assume they can’t be relied upon to play either.

"Such a consideration will come ahead of even matters such as ability because it is better to select a club-level player who always turns up, come rain or shine, rather than a county or regional star who has problems getting out of bed.

"I want to see renewed pride in the players who wear the Ashford colours. Given our youthful squad, we will try to give an opportunity to as many young players as possible, regardless of their playing ability."

Fussell will act as Kent Under-20 coach having recently coached the county to success in the National Academy 7s, winning the bowl competition.

There will be a meeting of all players at the club on Thursday, June 4 before the annual meeting which starts at 7.30pm.