'Honoured' sports enthusiast and Locks Heath Cricket Club chairman makes welcome rugby return with Portsmouth RFC role

And the Fareham-based former Gosport & Fareham, US Portsmouth and Petersfield representative is relishing getting his teeth into the position having spent a season away from club rugby.

Wake, 45, will work alongside Dan Roberts, who was at Portsmouth last term, and Chris Jones to form the new lead coach trio set up, replacing Gareth Richards after he took the decision to resign as head coach at the end of the previous campaign.

The new-look coaching team will be afforded the chance of leading Portsmouth into a much-changed outlook next season, with the club operating in the Counties 1 Hampshire division - where they will be joined by Havant Dolphins, Gosport & Fareham, Petersfield and Eastleigh among others - following a major revamp of the RFU league structure from step three and below.

And Wake, whose most recent club coaching involvement was at Petersfield prior to the coronavirus pandemic, is excited to see where he and his fellow lead coaches, Jones and Roberts, can take Portsmouth moving forward.

‘I knew it was vacant (head coach role) but I was kind of - I wouldn't say enjoying my sabbatical because I missed it - but the phone call came out of the blue from a representative from the Portsmouth committee asking if I'd be interested.

‘I was really honoured to be asked, to be honest, having been around the rugby community for a while now - it's a big club - it's been up in the National Leagues, not at the moment, but it was too good of an opportunity to turn down.

‘I didn't have any plans to take on such a big role, I'd have been quite happy doing a bit here and there, but it's a good opportunity, good job, big club and good people to work around.’

This will represent Wake's first-ever lead coach role within a senior rugby set up, but he is not daunted by role which awaits him.

And Wake, who is currently in his first year as Locks Heath Cricket Club chairman - where he also still plays - believes being able to share the burden of responsibility with his fellow lead coaches will be a good thing as Portsmouth look to establish themselves as a rugby force across the area once again.

He added: ‘They're (the club) quite keen not to pigeonhole people by name. When they rang me up and asked me, it was assumed I'd be taking the lead in coaching the men's team along with Chris Jones and Dan Roberts.

‘It's that kind of job where you can't just do it on your own. I've done plenty with Chris before – both at Gosport & Fareham and London Irish (pathway coaching).

‘Dan was there last year, he's someone I'm looking forward to working with, new ideas and ways of doing things. I've known Chris for 10 years, we've done plenty of coaching together in that time with the county, London Irish on the player pathways and Gosport & Fareham, so Chris and I have done plenty together.’