Latest news with #Tandy
Epoch Times
20-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Epoch Times
Making Space for a Better Life: A Conversation With Decluttering Expert April Tandy
April Tandy helps people transform their lives by decluttering their spaces. Her inspiring "The Mindful Art of Space Making" by April Tandy. Courtesy of April Tandy Scott The Epoch Times: What was your life like before you became a decluttering expert, and what led you to create the Space Maker Method? April Tandy: I was moving a lot—and by a lot I mean about 20 times in 20 years. Half of which was time spent living the expat life in different countries. Both moving and creating a home in various parts of the world helped me identify quickly what was important to my life and what was just unnecessary baggage. Especially in the years spent moving in only two suitcases, I had to learn quickly that I couldn't fit it all. If I wanted to bring the cowhide rug (**not real cowhide), I'd have to make space for it, which meant something else had to go. It was a one rug at the expense of one pair of shoes and a jacket kind of thing. While to many others this was absolutely ridiculous, I knew without a doubt that the rug made me infinitely more happy to have in my life than those clothing pieces ever did. And sure enough, I used that rug for three more years in my studio apartment. #WorthIt All of these moves helped me learn how to live intentionally in my home, but it all came together when I started what I thought would be an interior design side hustle back in 2020. Design has always been a passion of mine, but when I first started working with clients in 2020, I quickly learned that it wasn't a design problem that my clients had; it was a clutter problem. The common thread between all of my initial clients was that they had too much stuff and the bandaid fix they gave it was to redecorate and buy more things. From this moment on, clutter became my primary focus. The Epoch Times: It is common for clutter to get out of hand. Why do you believe so many people struggle with clutter? Related Stories 7/31/2024 1/16/2024 Ms. Tandy: For many of my clients, life just happened—like the heavy parts of life that can turn your world upside down. The loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, a long-term illness or an unfortunate health diagnosis, having a family member move out or move back in. Big life changes like this can easily throw a home into disorder. And once that happens, it's easy for the disorder to spiral. The Epoch Times: You've helped so many tackle their clutter. What benefits do your clients commonly experience once the clutter is gone? Ms. Tandy: Making space for what you love is different for everyone. Some of my clients are able to finally resume their favorite hobbies like cooking, sewing, or exercising. Some delight in hosting friends and family for the first time in years. The common thread is that everyone feels lighter and more optimistic about the future. Once clutter is cleared, the space can be used for gathering together and deepening relationships. August de Richelieu/Pexels The Epoch Times: You call your strategy the Space Maker Method. What steps do you take your clients through to overcome their clutter? Ms. Tandy: My method is purposefully simple. I tell my clients that their decluttering/organizing journey will have three stages: the Before, the During, and the After. In the Before, we do the mental work that is necessary but often overlooked. This includes things like intentionally walking through your home to take stock of your clutter, asking questions to understand why things are the way they are, and articulating your personal motivation for change. The During is when we focus only on decluttering. Distraction is the enemy here and focus is the goal. It's normal for things to get worse before they get better. I call this the 'messy middle'; it's real life but you don't see this part on TV. This is when your house gets turned upside-down and we sort through every closet and corner. We don't let ourselves get preoccupied with organization or design, and we certainly don't buy any new organizers or decor! We focus on thinning down and making space. We keep pressing forward. The After is the fun part. Your home looks nothing like it did before. Now we get to use items that we uncovered in the During (like family heirlooms you've always wanted to display or bags/baskets/organizers that can be put to practical use). We start to experiment with new organizational systems with a focus on making daily life easy and enjoyable for everyone who lives there. The Epoch Times: What is the most challenging part of decluttering for most people? Ms. Tandy: First, I'd say knowing 'where to start' and, secondly, 'how to keep going after you start.' When my clients contact me they are so overwhelmed by their clutter that they can't figure out where to start. The piles are too big and the idea of starting is just too much. They're very much resigned to the fact that things will never get better. And even when they do start, they usually throw in the towel shortly after because they don't have a clear plan for progress. And when you're lacking motivation, literally anything in the world sounds more fun than decluttering. A small task can be the catalyst for long-term change. Prostock-studio/Shutterstock The Epoch Times: How do you recommend people stave off falling back into old habits and generating more clutter after going through your process? Ms. Tandy: In my book, I mention two key factors for long-term success. The first is establishing a pattern of routine maintenance that is easy for you to achieve on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis. The second is personal change. Along your decluttering journey, you will come to understand yourself and your home much better than you did before. You'll come face-to-face with the trends and habits that led your home to get out of control, and you'll also be more sensitive to the build-up of clutter now that your home feels clean and spacious. It's up to you to be aware of your clutter-causing behaviors, and to make the adjustments necessary to continue to enjoy your clutter-free home happily ever after! The Epoch Times: How can parents teach their children to take care of their spaces and live without clutter? Ms. Tandy: Leading by example is always a good place to start. Children are like sponges and absorb what they see and what their parents do. If the living room and kitchen are cluttered and chaotic, they'll most likely keep their space chaotic as well. When parents lead by example, even young children can learn to maintain an organized, creative space. Maria Evseyeva/Shutterstock In one English home that I recently worked in, my client wanted to focus on her home office and bedroom. Unsurprisingly, her young son's room was equally as overwhelming. Over our week together I kept getting updates about what her son thought of our decluttering progress. Long story short, her son noticed the positive changes in the home and felt personally motivated to contribute. One evening he even went as far to declutter and organize his room on his own accord and then asked his mom if they could do the downstairs as well. Months later, I'm told that his room is still just as organized and he spends a lot of time being creative in his space (something he never did when it was cluttered). Decluttering makes a room look a lot better, but the real transformation is how people feel in the space. Nastyaofly/Shutterstock The Epoch Times: What has surprised you most about helping people declutter their homes? Ms. Tandy: How life-changing the process of decluttering really is. It's amazing to see the ripple effects in my clients' lives once they start clearing space in their home and in their mind. I've seen my clients heal their relationships, change their careers, grow their businesses, move to new cities because they felt free enough to do so, and make all sorts of life-changing improvements. What starts as a small act of making space in the home often snowballs into huge changes and life improvements. The Epoch Times: For anyone reading this who feels overwhelmed by their clutter—what's the first step you'd recommend they take? Ms. Tandy: Start with a Quick Win. This is a small task that you can achieve today to help make progress on your declutter journey. While a small task may seem small and inconsequential in the moment, over time the compounding effect of Quick Wins is what will build your motivation and strengthen your declutter muscles. It's also going to get you started and getting started is half the battle. The Epoch Times: What motivates you to continue this work? Ms. Tandy: Seeing the realized potential in my clients' homes and seeing the deep impact it has in their lives is what keeps me going. I can't tell you how many times I've cried while rewatching and editing the homes we've shared on our Youtube channel. These are real people who have real struggles and I know that I can help change their lives by changing their homes. This is what keeps me going. I currently have an application form so that anyone in the world can apply for help from the Space Maker Method. I receive new applications every week from people who are hurting, people who feel stuck and hopeless in their homes, and people who need a fresh start. But of course I can only visit so many homes per year. My life right now is one of constant travel from one project to the next, with periods of home time in-between when I edit YouTube videos and prepare for the next trip. My dream is to keep growing the Space Maker Method business, which will allow me to hire more help, help more people, and share more inspirational stories of lives and homes being transformed around the world.
NBC Sports
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
IMSA Laguna Seca results, points: Porsche Penske wins again but with the No. 6 963 this time
Porsche Penske Motorsport remained unbeaten in the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship season but with a twist at Laguna Seca Raceway. The No. 6 Porsche 963 earned its first Grand Touring Prototype victory this year as Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell beat teammates Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy in the No. 7 963 that had won the first three races. It's the third consecutive 1-2 finish for Porsche Penske Motorsport. The No. 24 BMW, which started from the pole position for the fourth consecutive race, finished third despite going off course from contact with Tandy on the 124th and final lap of the Monterey SportsCar Championship. The Porsche Penske Motorsport No. 6 rallied after dropping from second to fifth from early contact with a GT car. Jaminet was able to hold off a charging Tandy by 1.692 seconds on the famous 12-turn, 2.238-mile road course. IMSA LAGUNA SECA MONTEREY GP RESULTS: Click here for overall l By class 'It was a crazy race,' Jaminet told NBC Sports' Dave Burns. 'Obviously, we didn't have a perfect start with a small contact. I think a GT didn't see Matt on the inside. That was unfortunate. We lost some time there, dropped to fifth and then yeah it was pretty much flat out from start to finish after that. 'Trying to manage energy, tires, but at the same time really putting in qualifying laps. At the end, it was really tight, there was the sister car, the BMW behind, the traffic, the lapped cars. Not an easy one but the best of IMSA racing today.' Through four of nine races, Nasr and Tandy maintain a 91-point lead on Jaminet and Campbell as the No. 7 team defends its 2024 GTP championship. The winners in the GT categories were the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (GTD Pro) and No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (GTD). With drivers Laurin Heinrich and Klaus Bachler, AO Racing won its third consecutive race (GTD Pro at Sebring and Laguna Seca, GTD at Long Beach) by beating the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 and No. 3 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R. In GTD, Philip Ellis and Russell Ward in the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG beat Jack Hawksworth and Parker Thompson in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3. The . Conquest Racing No. 34 Ferrari 296 GT3 was third. 'Definitely a clean day,' Ellis told NBC Sports' Chris Wilner. 'An absolutely flawless day by the team, also by Russell in the first stint. I'll say the race was just as we needed it. I think especially against the Lexus. We had a long green stint, so I think they were stronger than us early in the stint, then we were better than them late out of the stint, so it was exactly what we needed to stay out of trouble. Amazing pit stops by the team. That's how you win the championship.' In the GTD Pro standings, Heinrich and Blachler extended their points lead, and Ellis and Ward also built on their championship lead in GTD. IMSA LAGUNA SECA MONTEREY GP RESULTS Race results Results by class Fastest laps by driver Fastest laps by driver after race (over the weekend) Fastest laps by driver and class after race Lap chart Best sector times Leader sequence Race distance and average speed Fastest lap sequence Race analysis by lap Stint analysis Time cards Pit stop time cards Flag analysis Weather report NEXT RACE The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will race Saturday, May 31 on the streets of downtown Detroit (3:30 p.m. ET, Peacock). Philip Ellis calls Laguna Seca a "flawless" race for his team and extends Winward Racing's championship lead in GTD.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Florida will ban water fluoridation amid battle between public health, personal freedom
Florida will become the second state in the nation to prohibit fluoridation of public water supplies, reversing decades of public health policy in favor of a new mindset that discounts experts and embraces individual autonomy. 'It's forced medication when they're jamming fluoride. And they did it because if you have fluoride, it'll help with dental. And I'm not saying that's not true, but we have other ways where people can get access to fluoride,' Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday in Miami. 'When you do this in the water supply, you're taking away a choice of someone who may not want to have overexposure to fluoride.' The state House and Senate passed the fluoride ban last month. DeSantis traveled to Miami to announce he'd sign the legislation, a decision that was expected, hours after the Miami-Dade County Commission overrode the county mayor's veto of a measure putting an end to fluoridation of the county's water supply. The statewide ban, once DeSantis signs Senate Bill 700 into law, would go into effect July 1. For DeSantis, it is a return to his approach during the COVID pandemic, when he carved out a political brand for himself. As the pandemic wore on, he eased restrictions he initially imposed, challenged the public health establishment, and touted Florida as a place for people who wanted to flee public health restrictions in their home states. DeSantis' staff resurrected the slogan on Tuesday, placing a sign on the lectern where he spoke proclaiming 'Free State of Florida.' Public health People with expertise in dentistry and public health, both practitioners who have experience treating public health and scientists who study public health — decried the pending enactment of the law as a move back in time that will degrade people's health for years to come. 'You're going to increase the amount of dental disease because of the lack of fluoride in the water,' said Dr. Bruce Tandy, of Delray Beach, who retired after 40 years and remains active in the field teaching dental students at Nova Southeastern University and helping with a Florida Dental Association that provides free dental care for people in need. 'All my professional friends, we were just shaking our heads. This just doesn't make sense,' Tandy said. State Sen. Barbara Sharief, a Broward Democrat, an advanced practice registered nurse who also has a doctorate in nursing practice and founded a pediatric home health care company, unsuccessfully sought to convince her colleagues to vote against the measure last month. 'I've seen firsthand how critical fluoridation is to our children's health. I'm deeply concerned that three years from now we'll be right back here scrambling to reverse this damage as preventable dental diseases will surge in our child population,' Sharief said during the Senate debate. 'When communities stop fluoridating, cavities increase (and) school absences due to dental pain increase,' Sharief said. Tandy said 'science overwhelmingly supports fluoridation in the water. We've seen over the years it's been called one of the great public health wins that we've accomplished in this country and around the world.' Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, a DeSantis appointee, said science doesn't support fluoridation. At the Miami event with the governor, he likened those who want to continue fluoridation to Linus, the 'Peanuts' cartoon character who would never relinquish his security blanket. 'This fluoridation is like, I think of Charlie Brown,' Ladapo said. 'I can't remember his name, but the little guy holds his blanket, right? And I love it, hold your blanket. But unfortunately, he's a kid, but what we have instead, we have professionals, there are doctors, dentists, public health leaders who are holding on to fluoridation like that blanket,' he said. 'It doesn't matter what the evidence shows, right? Whatever the studies show about potential harms in children and pregnant women and who knows about the rest of us, they're just holding on to it,' Ladapo said. 'It's really cute when you're a kid, but you can't hold on to that blanket as a grown-up.' Ashley Malin, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Florida, also appeared at the DeSantis event. She said 'major milestones' in research show that stopping fluoridation would 'protect the brains of children in Florida from an unreasonable risk of harm for generations to come.' Fluoride levels Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert and professor at Florida International University's medical school, said the amount of fluoride added to water supplies is safe and effective. Fluoride is naturally occurring, she said. In some places it's too high, but in many places, including typically in South Florida, it's too low, she said. Too little fluoride increases dental problems, which can lead to more widespread physical problems in the human body, she said. The objective, Marty, Sharief and Tandy said, is 0.7 milligrams per liter, which is sometimes described as parts per million. 'Fluoride at 0.7 milligrams per liter is safe. The so-called toxic dose would require a person to drink 128 gallons of water in one sitting, which is a physical impossibility,' Sharief said. 'This isn't a debate about liberty, it's a debate about responsibility.' Tandy discounted data that's been cited by opponents from a study in Pakistan and India — 'at fluoride levels that were six times what we're actually putting in the water to use it as a basis to scare technique to let people think that IQ levels for kids were going down because there is fluoride in the water, versus the research that's gone on for over 50 years that basically talks about the efficacy of .7 parts per million in the water.' Political decision For decades, opposition to fluoride in drinking water was the realm of fringe conspiracy theorists, exemplified by the 1964 film classic 'Dr. Strangelove.' An insane Air Force general, Jack D. Ripper, launches a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union. Ripper was so obsessed with fluoridation of water, which he called 'the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot that we have ever had to face,' that he drank only distilled water or rainwater. The Cold War is long over, but the battle over fluoridation has raged anew in recent years. State Rep. Daryl Campell, a Broward Democrat, told his colleagues that the legislation was 'a gift to conspiracy theories at the expense of common sense and public health.' State Rep. Daniel Alvarez, a Hillsborough County Republican, told his colleagues before they voted that the issue was 'not about fluoride. This is about your liberty,' adding it was about facts, 'not conspiracy.' 'This would honestly be a joke if it didn't have such dangerous consequences,' state Sen. Tina Polsky, a Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat said during the debate on the legislation. 'On a deeper level it has to do less with science and less with fluoride and more of sense of who's in charge,' said Charles Zelden, a professor of history and legal studies at Nova Southeastern University who periodically teaches a course in conspiracy theories. 'It's about an attitude toward authority, expertise, and it's a way of saying we know better than the experts. It's a power play. It's a way of saying, 'We're in charge.' 'It's happening on a lot of levels with the MAGA movement. It's a way of saying we don't accept your established views. Look at their thoughts on COVID. Other examples are measles, or autism and vaccinations. It's a way of saying we don't accept your established knowledge,' Zelden said. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has said he supports ending fluoridation of water supplies. Marty said the fluoride debate mirrors what is happening across the board in medicine 'in the last 100 days. I think there's a lack of general recognition of how science works. It's very important to emphasize science is not something you believe in. It's based on empirical measurements and studies and hard data,' Marty said. 'The science of fluoride, like much of what's going on here, is being questioned by people who haven't even done the work, haven't even done the studies,' she said. 'People who should not be trusted are unfortunately being held as experts.' DeSantis and other supporters of banning fluoride said it's a matter of 'informed consent.' 'Jamming fluoride in the water supply irrespective of whatever for the teeth when you can get that other ways, you know, that's impinging on other people's ability, you know, to have access to water in ways that they may not want to be exposed to, to what is essentially a forced medication,' the governor said. Marty said the argument that personal freedom should outweigh the public health benefits is a 'super slippery slope.' People could offer the same reasoning for why they shouldn't be required to wear seat belts, 'because it's against my will' or arguing that 'I don't feel like stopping at the stop sign. I didn't see anybody coming.' 'At what point do we have rules in society that help society operate and keep the vast majority of people safe and healthy,' she said. The fluoride ban was part of a much larger piece of legislation dealing with state agriculture policy. It passed the House and Senate largely along party lines, with Republicans voting yes and almost all Democrats voting 'no.' Utah is the only other state that's passed a fluoride ban. Weather modification DeSantis also said he would also sign Senate Bill 56 to ban geoengineering and weather modification activities. Some conspiracy theorists are concerned about so-called chemtrails. 'We're not engaged in any of that, but people have concerns, because you have all these people that are saying, 'Well, the way to fight climate change is to inject this stuff and block the sun,'' DeSantis said. The sponsor, state Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Miami Republican, briefly fell ill as she was praising DeSantis' promise to sign it into law. She sat down for a few minutes and was tended to by Ladapo, the surgeon general, then returned to the lectern. DeSantis said later she appeared to be fine. _____
IOL News
27-04-2025
- IOL News
Going beyond the code, investing in Girls in ICT is a future investment
Despite strides in awareness, the numbers remain sobering, with 30% of science and ICT professionals are woman, globally. Image: Supplied. This past Friday, the world marked Girls in ICT Day which brought up the critical question in the industry, are we doing enough to ensure that girls are not only included in the digital future, but leading it? A woman in tech and a director at Bizmod Consulting, a proudly women-led company, Jessica Nyarayi Tandy said she sees this day not as a checkbox on the advocacy calendar but as a strategic moment to recommit to what truly matters: intentionally building a future where girls are not simply included in ICT, but are leading it. Despite strides in awareness, the numbers remain sobering, with 30% of science and ICT professionals are woman, globally. A woman in tech and a director at Bizmod Consulting, a proudly women-led company, Jessica Nyarayi Tandy. Image: Supplied. Less than 3% of female students in higher education pursue ICT courses and in Sub-Saharan Africa, women make up 24% of STEM professionals. Closer to home, in South Africa, girls outperform boys in matric pass rates, but too few continue into ICT fields. 'These figures reflect more than a pipeline problem. They point to systemic barriers, lack of representation, and a gendered digital divide that still holds our girls back,' Tandy said. Diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones in innovation and decision-making. Digital skills provide economic mobility and access to global opportunities. Girls and women bring lived experience and perspective that lead to more inclusive tech solutions. Tandy reflected on her recent address to the students at Letsibogo Girls High School in Soweto, a Maths, Science, and ICT School of Specialisation focused on Media and Communication. 'I was humbled and inspired. The passion, curiosity, and creativity of the learners were a vivid reminder of what's possible when we give girls access to the right tools and platforms.' In her address, she shared the following reflections: "You will be learning skills like coding, AI, data analytics, and graphic design, skills that matter in today's digital world. But equally important are the human skills, empathy, communication, ethics. These are the things that differentiate us from machines and make innovation meaningful." 'I reminded the students, and continue to remind every organisation I speak to, that technology is a tool, not a destination. It's not about lines of code or hardware alone. It's about solving problems, building equitable futures, and staying rooted in humanity,' she said. Bizmod, the company that Tandy is a director at, encouraged the learners at Letsibogo and beyond to embrace interdisciplinary learning, to think about the end-user in every tech solution, and to use their talents not only to get ahead, but to lift others as they rise.
Wales Online
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
The truth about Steve Tandy, the crisis meeting he called and what players think of him
The truth about Steve Tandy, the crisis meeting he called and what players think of him The former Ospreys head coach is the favourite to be Wales' next head coach Steve Tandy is understood to have been offered the Wales job (Image: World Rugby ) In what turned out to be Steve Tandy's final campaign at the Ospreys, the problems were mounting up at an uncomfortable rate. Results were going against them. The pressure was ramping up. One of their players even ended up being bitten by a lion in South Africa. It never rains, but it pours. With all that piling up on the shoulders of the coach, he called his players into a meeting one Monday, intent on finding a way to stop their season being completely derailed. "We're not leaving this room until we all start enjoying our rugby again, myself included," was the gist of the honest ice-breaker from the first-time head coach. Article continues below Coming away from that meeting, it felt as though a corner had been turned. In the end, it mattered little. Months later, in early 2018, Tandy's services at the Ospreys were no longer required - dispensed with after failing to overcome Clermont away from home to keep their hopes of reaching the Champions Cup quarter-finals alive. For context, Clermont at the time were the beaten finalists the season before, having won 31 out of their last 32 home matches in Europe. In the Ospreys' pool too were reigning champions Saracens, just to make life that little bit harder. And yet, the Ospreys had gone toe-to-toe with both, drawing with Saracens in Swansea and losing to the English club by just two points away from home. In the end, they ended up missing out on the quarter-finals by just a few points. As Tandy mulls over a return to both Wales and being a head coach, understood to have been offered the chance to replace Warren Gatland, it seems fitting to look back on the last time the former back-row was the main man in charge. The reaction to Tandy being the front-runner - as exclusively revealed by WalesOnline earlier this month - has not exactly been effusive on social media. It has, in all honesty, been met with scepticism. Many have pointed to his record with the Ospreys and the fact that he hasn't been a head coach since, having been in charge of the defence with the Waratahs, Scotland and British & Irish Lions in the following years. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. One coach within the game has already said privately that it is "wild that people don't think Steve would do a good job". They also stressed that the Ospreys was Tandy's first job, one he was thrust into at the age of 32. Steve Tandy during his time in charge of the Ospreys (Image: Huw Evans Agency ) 'A shocking decision' Those who played under Tandy in Swansea are equally as enthusiastic. Former Wales hooker Scott Baldwin is paving his own way in coaching now, taking charge of Bridgend just like Tandy did himself 15 years ago following his own retirement. "Steve is a really good coach," Baldwin - coincidentally the Ospreys player bitten by the lion all those years ago - told WalesOnline. "I've seen quite a few bits that he was poor with the Ospreys. "If you actually look at his time at the Ospreys, we were consistently vying for the semi-finals in the league until the last 12 months or so. "He was very good, very straight. He'd call a spade a spade. But he was quick to move on from it. You could have a heated debate, but once it was done, it was yesterday's news. "He didn't hold things against people. His delivery was really good. "He got unfairly sacked to be brutally honest with you. We changed our gameplan at the time. It was around the time the Highlanders had won Super Rugby." Having signed Ma'afu Fia from the Dunedin-based outfit after their Super Rugby title success in 2015, the Ospreys were then trying their best to replicate the way the Jamie Joseph's side were attacking too. Getting to the touchline, then firing back long bullet passes from nine to the first forward. In theory, it gave you gainline, speed of ball and the ability to play on top. But, for the Ospreys, it just wasn't clicking - leading to some soul-searching. Senior players lamented the fact in meetings that, while it's easy to spot the space in reviews once you hit the pause button on the laptop, that isn't so apparent in-game when you're not winning collisions. Fia, familiar with what had worked in New Zealand, pointed out that the Highlanders had All Black scrum-half Aaron Smith to fizz passes around. Tandy, reviewing the situation, chose to sit down in a room with his players, looking to find the love of rugby again. "We just had an honest conversation about howthe Ospreys fundamentally played the game," explains Baldwin. "I loved that he was open about the fact it wasn't working. "He had the awareness to change and understood the human side of it." After all, Tandy had already tweaked the Ospreys' energy-sapping blitz defence from his playing days - the one that laid the foundations of the 2008 Grand Slam - to a more zonal style of defence with Brad Davis that has informed his coaching with Scotland and the Lions. "After that meeting, we had a decent run of form," says Baldwin. "We played Clermont away and Steve had to win to keep his job. "He had to win to get out of the group in Europe and keep his job, away to a top side. If you look at the build-up, we drew with Sarries at home, lost away to them by two points and lost narrowly to the Scarlets. "I'll never forget that Andrew Millward (then Ospreys CEO) came down to the Vale to tell us Tandy had gone. I remember thinking that was a shocking decision as we had turned a corner. "Was he ready to do the job under the circumstances? I don't know. I think maybe we overachieved while he was there, honestly." The student of the game who was popular with Lions Having won the league within four months of taking the job, Tandy would never lift silverware again. However, the Ospreys did reach the league play-offs on two occasions and narrowly missed out on a few other occasions - all with the backdrop of worsening finances within Welsh rugby. The day after their 2012 league success, the club were hit with a winding up order from HMRC over an outstanding tax debt. The Galacticos era was well and truly over. "To reach semi-finals and make knockouts of Europe, people in Wales will never say we were overachieving, but I truly believe we were," adds Baldwin. "The most important thing is he knows Welsh rugby. He's been through the turmoil. The only question is, if it's going to be tough for the next couple of years, does he want it?" It's a similar sentiment to that put forward by another former Ospreys hooker, Richard Hibbard. "I would love Steve to come in and it would be a fantastic appointment," he told BBC Radio Wales. "It is a mammoth task now if you look at Welsh rugby and my only concern is the WRU remit he could be given. This is not going to be a quick fix. "This is almost a two World Cup cycle and that is what you have to give him. You can't expect results to improve overnight. He has to build, not just the current squad but also the conveyor belt behind it. "Until we get that right, it is an impossible task for anybody." That will be what Tandy is mulling over right now, whether this is the right time for the job. He has been linked with returns to Wales before. Gatland was understood to have been keen on bringing him back when he returned to replace Wayne Pivac, having already taken him on the Lions tour of South Africa by that point. Those on the tour note how popular Tandy was with squad members from all the different home nations when it came to getting his message across and improving them as players. "You don't coach the Lions if you're a poor coach," adds Baldwin. "People say they want an experienced coach. He's been coaching for more than 10 years. "He went to Australia, loved his time there and opened his eyes to another way the game is played. He looked like a different man, like the man who took the job in 2012. "He looked full of energy and charisma. He's just a really good bloke. I hate the phrase, but he's a student of the game. "He's very keen to learn and look at different ways of doing things instead of just being stuck in one way. He can adapt his coaching. "Scotland are a big side. What he coaches there works because they're big, they're physical, they've got big guys who win the aerial battles. "They can buy a lot of time in the tackle. They can deliver that defensive system. He understands both sides of the ball. "I think he'd be a great appointment." 'You're starting. Now f**k off' Another former Wales international, Alex Cuthbert, believes this could be the next step for Tandy in his career. "We can easily say he's been a defence coach and this is probably a big role to take on," said the former wing on Scrum V. "But maybe this is the next thing he wants in the game. He's done his dues with the Lions and Scotland. He's definitely improved Scotland defensively. "I played against them for a number of years and they used to leak a lot of points. We know they're very good in attack, but he's got those attack-minded players to defend as well. "That's one of the hard things. A lot of people buy into what he wants his team to defence like." Getting Wales' players to buy into him, if he takes the job, will be crucial. However, just as important for Tandy will be buying into this group of young talent. As a coach, that is where his focus lies. "He could be grumpy sometimes, but he was very player-focused," explains Baldwin. "He was all about understanding you. "I'll never forget, he sent me to see someone. I'm not sure what the exact role was. She wouldn't have been a sports psychologist because she worked with the military. "But it was around the time of the lion bite. I wasn't being selected. My head had gone and we'd had a massive argument. "Anyway, he sent me to see this woman. It was all because I'd gone in and asked 'Why am I not starting?'. He was quite defensive if you asked that sort of thing. Article continues below "The woman explained that it was a defensive question and you'll get a defensive response. She said I should go in and ask what I need to do to play. It's the same question, but you'll get a constructive answer. "So I went in the following day and asked Steve what do I need to do to start because I want to play. He started laughing and said 'You're starting. Now, f**k off'. "It was a really good moment. If you ask any player who has worked under him, they'll give you the same response."
