Aviva Premiership
Tindall fearful over future after Davies departure
ESPN Staff
May 21, 2014
Mike Tindall says he owes his last two years at Gloucester to former director of rugby Nigel Davies © Getty Images
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Gloucester veteran Mike Tindall has admitted his future is far from certain after the sacking of director of rugby Nigel Davies.

Tindall, 35, was understood to have been weighing up an offer to become a full-time backs coach with Gloucester next season, but the departure of Davies has left that proposal in doubt.

The former England captain, who earlier this month hinted at retiring from his playing career, now believes his fate lies in the hands of whoever Gloucester appoint as their new head coach.

"It's been a crazy couple of weeks, but we'll see what happens at the end of it," said Tindall. "It's a weird time for me with my playing and coaching contract running out at the same time, I'm almost where I was two years ago.

"I don't know what's going to happen but we'll see. Everything's in limbo again, so it's just a case of holding on to see what happens."

Previously surplus to requirements under former head coach Bryan Redpath, Tindall paid tribute to Davies as the man who gave him a second chance at Gloucester after offering him a dual player/coach role.

"I must give a lot of credit and respect to Nigel - without him I wouldn't have been here for the last two years. He said for him going forward and the best thing for the group, he wanted me as a full-time coach.

"I disagreed with him, but I had to respect his decision because without him I wouldn't have been at the club still anyway. We were going through that process, but now he's not here. My contract will run out so I've got to wait and see who comes in and what they want.

"So all bets are off: unless you put your CV in for the big job. Realistically it would be a very big step for someone just getting started in coaching. You see behind the scenes what a director of rugby has to do and there's so many facets to the job."

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