Unlike his immediate predecessors as the Australian Rugby Union's high performance manager - Jeff Miller and Brett Robinson - Davis has never worn the gold jersey.

In fact, his rugby background is restricted to playing second row and flanker for the Riverina College of Advanced Education in Wagga Wagga in the early 1970s.

His track record includes working as a sports scientist at the AIS, preparing Australian athletes for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and directing the coaching and sports sciences at the US Olympic Committee.

In the US Davis was referred to as "the coach of coaches" and he sees his role with the ARU as something similar. "That's not about me telling rugby coaches how to coach rugby because, you know, I've played the game and I've watched it for years, but I'm not a rugby coach and I'm not a rugby expert," Davis said.

"I'm not a softball expert or a rowing expert, but there are common principles in terms of how coaches apply their knowledge and how coaches learn and develop that are the important things.

Davis, who is married to an American and has four children, started work at the ARU on July 11. He arrived at a crucial juncture on the Wallabies' road to France. After a promising start to the domestic Test season, the Wallabies finished by losing five matches in succession to come last in the Tri-Nations series behind New Zealand and South Africa.

"I'm not worried about it. It is all about a long-term plan. One of the things I've learnt in the US and 20 years in high performance sport is you've got to keep your eyes on the prize.

"Our focus is clearly on Rugby World Cup. We have a plan and while it would have been great to win those games, there are certain things we are working to build and develop and we feel we are still on track for that.

"The development goals we've set as a team, we are hitting those goals. We are tracking where we need to track. It is not just about here we are now and here is where we want to be in 2007 and boy, I hope we make it. You do set parameters along the way, performance indicators, steps and benchmarks.

"Just in the recovery area, nutrition. If you really wanted to be a 100 per cent full-time, totally switched-on professional athlete, everything you did was focused towards that performance, which is probably unrealistic. But the point is there are so many areas in all the areas of preparation that athletes can do, that we can do as preparers.

"All the records and all the performances now will continue to improve. It is vitally important and that's what our programs are designed to do. Our sports science programs, the research, the use of technology, athlete development, how we find and develop them, nurture them and keep them going.

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