Dwayne Peel reflects on 20 years since battling the All Blacks with the British & Irish Lions - and reveals why coaching in Welsh rugby is his toughest task yet

It has been 20 years since Dwayne Peel took on the toughest challenge of his career as a player, battling the All Blacks with the British & Irish Lions.

‘Blimey, has it been that long?’ Peel asks, his mind wandering back to facing the likes of New Zealand superstars Dan Carter and Tana Umaga. ‘That makes me feel a bit old.’

Two decades on from starting all three Tests in a 3-0 series defeat in the southern hemisphere, Peel is now in the midst of the hardest job he’s had since moving into coaching. As the man in charge of Welsh side Scarlets, he is bidding for success against a backdrop of financial cuts and political wrangling. 

The off-field uncertainty is such that currently, the Llanelli-based side does not have complete certainty over their long-term future.

‘I don’t think anybody’s had assurances,’ Peel adds matter-of-factly.

Welcome to the madcap world of the game in Wales. 

Peel is working through the carnage and his team punched above their weight in the campaign just finished.

The Scarlets ran eventual United Rugby Championship winners Leinster close in their quarter-final clash in Dublin and secured qualification for next season’s Investec Champions Cup, the draw for which will be made on July 1.

These achievements might not seem worthy of champagne popping. But they must also be analysed with the current state of the broader Welsh rugby ecosystem in mind. In Peel’s own words, Wales’ four domestic sides have ‘undoubtedly’ been hamstrung by the multitude of problems the game in the country is facing.

‘It’s been difficult to manage,’ the decorated former scrum-half says. ‘That’s the reality of where we are with what’s going on off the field and finances getting cut.

‘I don’t need to spell out what’s happened. It’s made things tough. But you have to work in the parameters you have and make the best of them.

‘We competed hard this season with a young squad, most of whom have come through our system. There’s a lot to be proud of. If you look at the end of the URC, Leinster ran away with games. But even to the last minute of ours with them, I thought we were right in it.

‘We’ve laid a good foundation. Now, our challenge is to build on that.’

Wales’ four domestic sides operated off playing budgets of just £4.5million in 2024/25 due to financial problems. 

All four teams – Dragons, Cardiff, Ospreys and Peel’s Scarlets – have had to cut the size of their squads as a result. For contrast, while Leinster’s annual squad spend is undisclosed, it is thought to be near to £15m. To that end, when they took on the Irish giants in Dublin, Peel was essentially bringing a knife to a gun fight.

But his young Scarlets still caused some damage, albeit in a narrow defeat.

‘We wanted to strive for the play-offs so to do that and get Champions Cup off the back of that was fantastic,’ Peel says. ‘The pedigree of this club has been built on the European Cup since its inception. We haven’t played Champions Cup rugby for a good few years now, so that’s something to look forward to.

‘We’ve lost a lot of world-class Lions experience and a lot of leadership, but that’s led us to rapidly bringing through a lot of exciting, young talent over the past season and they have been brilliant for us. It’s been well-documented playing budgets have gone down. Last year was painful because we were really in transition. 

'We had to do it. But the key was to get through that and build. We’ve got some quality young players, particularly in the back-line. The foundation has taken a long time to bed in here, but I think we’re at a point where we’ve got that now. 

'The Champions Cup will be another level up. It’s the next challenge. As much as that brings excitement, we’ve got a small squad. That does put stress on the group. 

'I’ve got some concerns around that in terms of player numbers but we’ve left the club at the end of this season in a better position than when we started.’

There is never a dull moment in Welsh rugby. 

And as things stand, both the Ospreys and Scarlets are in a standoff with the country’s governing body – the Welsh Rugby Union.

The two west Wales regions opted not to sign up to the WRU’s new Professional Rugby Agreement. They did so, they say, because of a lack of clarity on how the four clubs would be funded fairly and equitably going forward, following the WRU’s takeover of Cardiff, which they felt could lead to the capital club being favoured. 

But the reality of that outcome is that the money Peel has to play with moving forward could be even less.

The WRU is actively exploring the possibility of cutting its number of professional teams from four to three or perhaps even two. No-one, as Peel points out, can currently be sure of their position. It makes running a rugby team close to impossible.

Welsh rugby’s problems have been shown by the current 17-Test winless run of their senior men’s side. The WRU remain on the lookout for a new head coach too.

And yet the Scarlets have still shown promise. In the likes of Blair Murray and Tom Rogers, they have talented young players. Centre Macs Page is one to watch out for too and looks likely to win his first Wales cap in Japan in the weeks to come.

‘We’ve done a good job of making it about the rugby and not worrying about what’s going on above us,’ Peel says. ‘We’ve got 150 years of history here and produced some great teams. We have to represent that history as best we can. If you look at our metrics in terms of number of international players and where we finished the season, I feel we’re in a good position. The club means so much to the whole of west Wales.

‘In the next couple of seasons in Welsh rugby, the academies are going to be extremely important. We’ve had the likes of Tom and Macs come through and play very well.

‘They’re the future of the club and we’ve got to keep bringing those players through. There is a romantic side to this for me in terms of understanding what we represent.

‘I came through the door here at 15. I played for 10 seasons. I grew up as a supporter and I’ve been so all my life. At some point, that has to provide an extra layer of drive.’

Peel has Scarlets blood running through his veins. He had a brilliant playing career – the fact he was such a key man for the Lions in 2005 reflective of his talent.

Playing at that level showed Peel rugby’s elite. It is at that highest level that he hopes soon the Scarlets and Wales will return to. ‘It was a dream of mine to play for the Lions,’ he says. ‘It was a tough tour on the playing side, but what an experience. We came up against a bloody good All Blacks team who were almost untouchable in the Tests.

‘People look back on 2005 now and talk a lot about Sir Clive Woodward and Alastair Campbell. Clive was always innovating. That tour was very different to what I was used to with Wales. It was far bigger. For example, with Wales at the time we weren’t used to having a chef travelling with us. Ultimately, it was about the rugby and we were well beaten. Alastair couldn’t go out there and pass or kick for us.’

Peel was a television pundit for the 2025 Lions’ tour-opening defeat by Argentina in Dublin but expects Andy Farrell’s side to have success in Australia. 

He pinpoints the pace of three outstanding No 9’s in Jamison Gibson-Park, Alex Mitchell and Tomos Williams as key to the Lions game plan. 

But Peel’s focus is already turning to next season, once a family holiday and clearing out the family’s garden pond have been taken care of.

‘From an international point of view, the structure in Wales has to be right for the game to flourish,’ he says. ‘We need to find a DNA as our national sport. 

'When I look at other sports in Wales, like the football team, I think they’ve got an identity behind them and a feelgood factor about who they represent. That can be a big driver. There is good talent in Wales.

‘We always produce good rugby players. The next Wales coach will have an opportunity to bring those players through. The regions have a role to play in that.

‘I do get frustrated at what is happening. But I do see positivity and there is an opportunity to get things right. We’re a proud country. Over the last 20 or so years, Wales has been a successful rugby nation. 

'We’re on a bit of a blip currently, but we need to keep striving to get back to where we belong. A high-speed tempo suits Welsh rugby and always has.

‘Wales were in a quarter-final of a World Cup three years ago. Sometimes, you have to go through bad periods. As a proud Welshman, I’m sad when Wales lose.

‘But I don’t think we’re at a dead loss from any perspective. There is opportunity out there, we just have to get it right.’