LONG READ Steve Tandy needs to get Wales back to basics to overcome Japan's World Cup ranking threat

“At least we didn’t go back in the scrums,” the former prop Mike Griffiths reportedly said to fellow front-rower Garin Jenkins in the dressing room after Wales played South Africa in Pretoria in 1998. Sadly for the tourists, they had spent much of the afternoon in reverse in many other areas en route to a 96-13 defeat.

Taking the positives after a setback is nothing new, especially for a coach, and maybe there is something to be said for the practice. Team bosses are meant to point players in the direction of light rather than dark, after all.

One who channels his inner Private Frazer after every loss, telling the world ‘we’re doomed’ or an approximation thereof, might soon find himself in need of the services of his local Job Centre, for players tend to believe absolutely what their coaches say.

It was understandable, then, that after Wales lost 52-28 to Argentina in his first game in charge, Steve Tandy went out of his way to stress the pluses: the four tries they scored, how the players had bought into what the coaches were trying to do, the intent they had shown, their early-game resilience after finding themselves 14-0 down on 10 minutes and how ‘exciting’ it was to see Louis Rees-Zammit back in Test rugby.

It was also noticeable that the wider reaction to the setback was largely measured. True, one poster suggested online Tandy would be “sacked in April”, but the chap’s contribution attracted just one like, while someone else generously offered his services to the coach, notwithstanding that he was 63 and hadn’t played a game in 28 years. If he’d also written that he could soar 12ft in the air and catch high balls under pressure, maybe Tandy would have been in touch before the individual in question had put his laptop away, but, alas, no such additional information was forthcoming.

Former internationals seemed supportive, among them former Wales captain Gwyn Jones, who told S4C: “There is optimism around Steve and his side after two years of suffering. In those two years there wasn’t any attacking or creative rugby. Today we saw aspects of the team improving but it shows it’s a long-term project; there’s a lot of coaching to do. That’s the magnitude of the task but everyone is behind them wanting them to succeed.”

Let’s hope the patience extends beyond the game with Japan this weekend.

How do you replace the ‘irreplaceable’? That would be Jac Morgan, whose display against Argentina touched the heights and then a bit more. There were 14 carries, 65 metres made, 12 tackles and two turnovers from Wales’ captain and best player.

What is certain is that after Argentina, Tandy will be clearer about what needs to be fixed and what can be built on. Much the same will be the order of the day for most objective observers outside the camp. Maybe we can put some of those issues into question form.

How do you replace the ‘irreplaceable’? That would be Jac Morgan, whose display against Argentina touched the heights and then a bit more. There were 14 carries, 65 metres made, 12 tackles and two turnovers from Wales’ captain and best player, who also had a hand in three of the team’s tries, scoring one of them himself. When he achieved one of those possession switches, such was his upper-body strength the entire maul seemed to go up and down as he strove to rip the ball from his opponents. Popeye himself would have signed off that 10 seconds without a second thought.

The whole show from the flanker was a study in how to deliver in adversity. Alun Wyn Jones came up with something similar in a losing cause against in Scotland at a freezing Murrayfield in 2007 when at times he appeared to be taking on the hosts on his own, but Morgan’s display last weekend was every bit as memorable, underlining how much of a loss he will be as he recovers from the dislocated shoulder he suffered while scoring against the Pumas. One writer went as far as to call him irreplaceable.

No one is irreplaceable, but it is beyond doubt that Wales face a major challenge to cope without the man from Brynamman over the coming weeks and possibly months.

Tandy responded by calling up Harri Deaves. The coach could have opted for Leicester Tigers’ Tommy Reffell, but Deaves has been in exceptional form, contributing 69 tackles over four outings for the Ospreys and also catching the eye with ball in hand, making 33 carries and 104 metres, with 10 defenders beaten.

He may be relatively small, but those who know him well insist there are few bigger hearts in Welsh rugby. “He’s just an absolute dog who’ll scrap for everything,” his old Ospreys team-mate Nicky Smith told RugbyPass last year. “He’s quite small and people on the outside may form a certain impression of him, but, by God, the boys in a circle before a game value him so much.”

Still, however it’s sliced, losing Morgan is a major blow.

It’s up to Wales to show they can adapt.

What to do about aerial threats?

The late Western Mail rugby writer John Billot used to reckon the greatest test of nerve for a rugby player was to stand beneath a high ball on a midweek night at Pontypool Park with the home pack thundering forward. Visiting full-backs made and lost reputations on such occasions – more often than not the latter, it has to be said.

Blair Murray is a fine counter-attacker who has pace, skill and a sense of adventure. But at 5ft 8in, he is small for a modern-day Test full back and the Pumas played on his lack of height by sending a series of bombs his way.

Courage wasn’t the issue for Wales rugby players in contesting kicks last weekend. Plenty in red threw themselves into the challenge. It’s just that Argentina were more skilled at the art – a lot more skilled. Time and again they timed their jumps better, soaring above the opposition while having the expert hand-eye coordination to gather the ball.

What can we say? Blair Murray is a fine counter-attacker who has pace, skill and a sense of adventure. But at 5ft 8in, he is small for a modern-day Test full back and the Pumas played on his lack of height by sending a series of bombs his way backed by purposeful chases, making for an exceptionally difficult afternoon for the Wales No. 15. He wasn’t alone, with other Welsh players also finding it hard to counter the visitors’ aerial work.

The 6ft 5in Max Llewellyn did skilfully pluck one ball out of the sky, but he also lost a contest to Justo Piccardo, who is five inches shorter. Tom Rogers managed to tap a high kick back, but it spilled into the hands of Juan Martin Gonzalez, who promptly sent Mateo Carreras in for a try. It was that kind of afternoon. If Wales claimed more than a couple of contested kicks, such instances don’t stick clearly in the memory.

Not so long ago they were able to field Dan Biggar and self-styled bomb defuser Liam Williams, players expert at vying for ball in the air. George North could also do the job, while Leigh Halfpenny made up for his lack of height with wonderful timing, allied to startling bravery, which helped him compete with most.

Tandy doesn’t have such aerial riches at disposal, but he somehow has to find a solution to Wales’ woes in the area because, like it or not, controlling the skies matters hugely in modern rugby.

What can be done about the midfield?

You really hope Ben Thomas stayed away from rugby message boards after the game with Argentina because their content would not have made enjoyable reading for the Cardiff inside centre.

Understatement alert: he didn’t have his best game, what with a needless yellow card for flicking a boot out at Pablo Matera, who was holding him, and then throwing a pass Argentina fly-half Geronimo Prisciantelli snaffled before crossing the Wales line.

At times, Thomas looked short of confidence, which isn’t ideal for someone who’s supposed to be helping out with playmaking duties.

At the time of writing there have been eight different midfield partnerships in just over two years. At some point, the selectors will have to make up their minds about who they truly trust in the roles.

His admirers insist the Cardiff man’s passing helps give Wales the kind of attacking shape Matt Sherratt likes and his ability with the boot eases the pressure on the fly-half at a time when the coaches want someone to nail down the No. 10 position.

But let’s see what happens. Argentina’s fluency across the backs was on a different level and there may be a temptation for Wales to experiment in midfield as the campaign goes on, with Louie Hennessey an interesting option at No. 13 and Nick Tompkins bringing inside centre form with Saracens into the setup. There’s also Joe Hawkins to consider.

The problem could be that since the last World Cup selection for Wales at centre has been all over the place, perhaps calling to mind a journey through the old American west by stagecoach, with passengers bumped around in different places.

At the time of writing there have been eight different midfield partnerships in just over two years. At some point, the selectors will have to make up their minds about who they truly trust in the roles.

Having a settled 12 and 13 helps a side hugely. Gavin Henson and Tom Shanklin underlined as much when they teamed up so successfully in Wales’ Grand Slam campaign of 2005. Similarly, the pairing of Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies was important to so many of the triumphs during Warren Gatland’s first stint as Welsh coach.

Is it to be Thomas and Max Llewellyn for the long haul in the Tandy years? Or can the midfield dynamic be improved? Important questions for the head coach and Sherratt, then.

And is it possible to sort out the defence?

It should be possible for Wales to improve in the matter of manning the barricades because Tandy has experience as a defence coach himself and Wales do have a lot of capable defenders. But a missed-tackle count of 30 against the Pumas was positively frightening.

Tom Rogers missed a handful or so of those, often through overrunning at kickoffs, while five forwards saw at least two players apiece fly past them and Wales looked vulnerable whenever Argentina spread the ball.

Wales may have scored four tries and ushered Louis-Rees Zammit back into the fold, but if their defence doesn’t improve quickly, starting against Japan.

Max Llewellyn and Ben Thomas, he who received much post-match flak, were far from the worst defenders behind, while Adam Beard made pretty much every hit he attempted and Daf Jenkins, Aaron Wainwright and Alex Mann put in 50 tackles between them.

But Argentina still made 14 line-breaks and that is a figure that might have prompted members of the Welsh coaching setup to wake up bathed in cold sweat in the small hours of Monday.

Wales may have scored four tries and ushered Louis-Rees Zammit back into the fold, but if their defence doesn’t improve quickly, starting against Japan and their dangerous runners on Saturday, they will struggle to find a route back to respectability.

Former Neath and Ospreys flanker Tandy will know as much, of course, schooled as he was on the essential lesson that the basics matter.

Such things always have mattered, and they always will.