It might be hard to believe just now but there is a silver lining to Howley's shock Wales exit
By rights, Stephen Jones should have been sitting down for a quiet beer to watch his beloved Liverpool toil in Napoli on Tuesday night with fellow rugby dads, but instead he was furiously packing with his mind scrambling after being asked to step up to as Wales’ attack coach for the duration of the World Cup.
He will be whisked to the nearest airport on Wednesday, heading for Tokyo like a South American diplomat, sirens blazing. His task, to bring a joie de vivre and elan to Wales back play and bring home the Webb Ellis Cup. No biggie, then.
This surprising turn of events – to put it mildly – comes in the wake Rob Howley’s return home pending an investigation over a potential breach of World Rugby’s regulation six – in plain English, betting on rugby union.
Now, this is something of a curveball for a tight-knit coaching group that has been together through thick and thin for over 100 Tests.
They will have mixed emotions over Howley’s exit but short of coming across as a Welsh Comical Ali, as Wales’ World Cup planning goes up in flames, there are slithers of positive news over Jones’ arrival in Japan on Thursday…
(Continue reading below…)
Familiarity with the players
When you have barely 72 hours before your first World Cup fixture and you have a crisis that sees your attack coach sent home in ignominy, the options are limited. To their credit, Martyn Phillips and Warren Gatland have acted decisively.
It helped that they had Jones, the Wales attack coach-in-waiting, on speed-dial, without having to mess around with expensive contractual shenanigans that could have held up a full-scale emergency. They didn’t have to scour the world looking for a blindingly brilliant, avant-garde southern hemisphere coach, who would be rapidly YouTubing the Wales backline.
Jones, of course, knows the players intimately, as players and, as importantly, people. He has been shoulder-to-shoulder with Wales’ talisman Ken Owens and Alun Wyn Jones in battle. He knows how to motivate them and how to get inside their minds.
Dan Biggar illustrates his professionalism in addressing the Rob Howley affair that has shaken Wales https://t.co/F4B63uOCyd
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 18, 2019
Remarkably, five out of the seven first-choice Welsh backs have been coached in some part by Jones. Only Dan Biggar and Josh Adams, who played for a season with Llanelli, and is a West Walian, has not been directly coached by the Carmarthen-born pivot but with a ton of caps as Wales’ on-field general, he’s very much in the same vein as Biggar, so you’d imagine their playing philosophies chime.
Another hugely influential and experienced back, Leigh Halfpenny, is also familiar with his way of working. This familiarity can only help when time is of the essence.
The missing attacking link
There’s no doubt Rob Howley has been a sterling servant to Wales and a loyal deputy to Warren Gatland, but it would be daft to suggest Wales’ attacking style has not missed an X-Factor during his tenure. As Gerald Davies romantically put it, there is a ‘Welsh Way’ of playing, more about evasion rather than contact, beauty over brawn.
Now, RugbyPass is not suggesting Jones is the modern-day Carwyn James, that evangelist of attacking play, but with the Scarlets, Jones implemented some of the most aesthetically pleasing back play seen by a Welsh region as the West Walians weaved intricate patterns, offloaded with dexterity and stormed to the Champions Cup semi-final in 2018 and saw off Munster and Leinster teams packed with Ireland internationals on the way to a 2017 PRO12 final win in Dublin.
Whether he is watching his son play at under-sevens level in Llandaff, or dissecting how to break down international defences, those who know Jones all attest that he doesn’t stop thinking about rugby. This infectious enthusiasm is bound to wear off. Gatland was fairly open in saying he expected Jones to add his own ethos to a Wales backline, not to stick rigidly to Howley’s playbook.
While you won’t expect to see Wales playing like the Harlem Globetrotters, some Jones hallmarks may start to bear fruit sooner than later. You have to remember, Jones has been a shoo-in for the job for nearly a year, and the chance to hone Wales’ attacking shape will have sent him off to sleep regularly with a smile on his face.
An exceptionally warm welcome for Wales in Kitakyushu ????????? Marciau llawn i Kitakyushu am y croeso cynnes. #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/QC6bAaDbcL
— Welsh Rugby Union ??????? (@WelshRugbyUnion) September 16, 2019
Unfinished business
There are few prouder Welshmen than Jones, who went on two Lions tours and won two Grand Slams, one under Gatland. Jones finished his celebrated career out in New Zealand in 2011 on a third World Cup campaign and he was integral to steering a fresh-faced squad to the semi-final where they came up agonisingly short against France.
The majority of that squad have talked about a missed opportunity and Jones would like nothing better than the chance to atone for that disappointment. Jones can use every motivational tool in the book to inspire his backline because he has been there.
He understands intimately what the players are going through having experienced every peak and trough in a Wales World Cup shirt. He will still bear the scars of Nantes in 2007 and will relish pitting his wits against Fiji.
It's awkward for Warren Gatland after the sudden exit of Rob Howley from the Wales set-uphttps://t.co/IKMB6wRce7
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 18, 2019
A galvanising effect
It was instructive that Gatland, a man who picked Jones for 41 of his 104 caps, said he conferred with senior players before making the decision to contact Jones. It wasn’t a case of Better Call Saul, more Better Call Steve.
Gatland is at a stage in his Welsh coaching cycle that trust is absolute and you would have thought that Liam Williams, Jonathan Davies, George North, Biggar and Halfpenny were all sought for counsel. That must have been soothing for Gatland on a birthday he will never forget.
In their long history, Welsh rugby is used to unexpected bombshells. It’s in their DNA. When Mike Ruddock was given the heave-ho during the 2006 Six Nations after internal strife Wales still managed to beat Scotland while all hell was breaking loose, while in 2015, with the players dropping like flies, they managed to beat England with Lloyd Williams on the wing.
Earlier this year, the squad was rocked by Project Reset, which threatened to amalgamate the Scarlets and the Ospreys and put a glut of the players out of work, but they rallied to win a Grand Slam. They shine in adversity. An already tight squad will be even tighter.
It’s early days, but Wales can come through this.
WATCH: The RugbyPass stadium guide to Toyota where Wales will open their World Cup campaign versus Georgia
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments