Howells and John made a formidable coaching duo, bringing a number of silverware to the club for the first time since the late '70s.

They guided Ponty to Cup and League Championship successes in 1996 and 1997, before Howells parted way with the club in 1998 to join Cardiff.

[2] In April 1999, it was announced that Lynn Howells would leave his post at Pontypridd to take on the head coaching role at Cardiff.

[3] The start of the season saw the club lose 13 first choice players due to the 1999 Rugby World Cup, where Howells was also taking part in as assistant coach for Wales, the host country.

Henry and Howells lead Wales to top of the Pool with victories over Argentina and Japan, but were defeated by Samoa.

Howells played a massive part in the preparations for the World Cup, creating a strong forward pack that beat South Africa for the first ever time, 29–19.

However at the start of 2001, Cardiff lost all of their crucial matches, including a Heineken Cup quarter-final loss to Gloucester 21–15.

With Howells at the reign between 2001 and 2003, Ponty made it all the way to the final of the 2001–02 European Challenge Cup in just his first season in charge.

They had recently earned promotion to the top Italian division, the Super 10, but failed to keep their place in the league during the 2004–05 season.

In September 2006 Howells was appointed Head Coach of Edinburgh, and after leading the side to 8th in the 2006–07 Celtic League and bottom of their pool in the 2006–07 Heineken Cup, he was sacked in August 2007 after a management restructuring.

During the 2013–14 European Challenge Cup, the Wolves picked up two victories, both coming home and away to Italian side Calvisano, although they did lose narrowly to Brive and Newcastle Falcons.

[7] After an unsuccessful 2012 end-of-year rugby union internationals, the then head coach of Romania Haralambie Dumitras resigned, with Howells taking over.

Heading into the final match against Georgia, Romania were leading the table with 38 points; however, a 22–9 loss to the Lelos saw the Georgians take their third consecutive European Nations Cup title.

[8] During the 2014 IRB Nations Cup, Romania finished second behind Emerging Ireland, who were the only side to beat Howells' men, 31–10.

The 2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals saw Romania claim a single victory, coming in the final week of their campaign, an 18–9 win over Canada.

The 2016 World Rugby Nations Cup saw Romania claim their fourth title, after beating Argentina XV, 20–8, in the final.

[12] On 6 June, the appeal failed and the decision was upheld meaning Russia was confirmed as Europe 1 and qualified for the World Cup, whilst Germany advanced to round 6.