We need to talk about Rhys Webb
We need to talk about Rhys Webb. The 31-cap Wales and Lions scrum-half is reported to have bid a final adieu to Toulon after a challenging 18-month stay down on the Cote d’Azur. This after the French superclub reached a verbal agreement with the player and his agent to sever all ties.
It was a typically dramatic turn in what has been a tumultuous time for the returning Osprey.
Webb has been a cause celebre since moving to France in the summer of 2018 given he was 29 caps short of the 60-cap limit implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union at the same time he signed on the dotted line with Mourad Boudjellal.
Only the key protagonists will ever know whether Webb was informed of the ruling before signing but either way there is sympathy for his plight.
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The Bridgend-born No 9 was part of a golden generation. He put in a decade of service for his beloved Ospreys, turning out on 154 occasions, all the while watching the steady trickle of his peers leave for France and England for ‘life experience’ but also the financial rewards on offer. Dan Lydiate and Jamie Roberts headed for Racing 92, Leigh Halfpenny to Toulon, Jonathan Davies had a whirl at Clermont Auvergne, while Mike Phillips made hay at Perpignan and then Racing 92. The English Premiership gained George North, who headed to Northampton, Liam Williams to Saracens and Taulupe Faletau who decamped to Bath. Oh and that’s not forgetting, Richard Hibbard, Luke Charteris and James Hook. All had prosperous periods outside the Welsh goldfish bowl. Last out of the door was his old mucker Dan Biggar to Northampton.
That’s pretty much an entire backline and pack of Welsh Lions moving to sunnier financial climes. Throughout this unsettling player-drain, Webb must have been thinking, ‘what about me?’ so when the opportunity knocked, the pull and sense of entitlement must have been overwhelming.
Yet behind the sunny Instagram posts by the pool in his Budgie Smugglers, it has been far from a smooth journey. First his wife, Delyth and the couple’s three kids decided there was no place like home and returned to Bridgend, leading to tear-stained interviews. On the pitch, it has been a mixed bag. He has played competently in fits and starts but his Toulon side have lost the sheen of the three-time Champions Cup winners, flirting with relegation and staving off rumours of unrest.
Indeed Boudjellal has made more headlines in spats with star players – see Julian Savea – than headlines on the pitch in recent years, before flouncing off and leaving Bernard LeMaitre to run affairs.
All the while, in Wales, the wheels have kept turning. His long-time adversary Gareth Davies has become one of Wales’ most explosive players, topping the scoring charts at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in Webb’s absence through injury and scoring key interception tries, notably against England and Australia in consecutive World Cups. The common consensus has been that he’s conducted himself with great aplomb. If that wasn’t enough, a young buck by the name of Tomas Williams has come onto the scene and through a cute box-kicking and running game is being heavily tipped to become the Wales’ first-choice No 9 sooner than later.
There’s also been a shifting narrative in the thousands of words written since his departure. A feeling that he’d left Wales for money and couldn’t take anything for granted on his return. For some, he’s been on the naughty step and is getting his just desserts. This seems harsh after a glut of his teammates had committed the same egregious crime and been welcomed back with bouquets and garlands.
If anything, Webb had grounds for hurt feelings at his exclusion in what was a unique case. Tomas Francis has been able to continue his successful Wales career on a technicality, being able to extend his Exeter contract rather than sign a new one – semantics if ever there was one, and Rhys Carre was able to sign for Saracens even though he’d made only a handful of regional appearances and still appear at a World Cup.
A real shame for the powerful winger. https://t.co/GkaSPNtWBN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 24, 2020
It must be added that the 60-cap rule appears to be working for a Wales and their regions with the likes of Webb, and Williams returning and new caps Nick Tompkins, Louis Rees-Zammit WillGriff John all sounded out about a return to Wales.
So where does this leave him? Well the sight of him at training, mucking about with Justin Tipuric, all smiles has been heartening. As for his reintegration back into the squad, time will tell, but you wonder how the dynamics have changed? Will he be happy to carry the tackle bags as a clear No 3? Aled Davies may have carried out that role in Japan, but Webb, the arch-competitor, is a different case entirely. Never short of self-belief, he’s already started making an impression on Wayne Pivac, who said he’d been impressed with his sharpness at training and brought a level of experience and vocal assertiveness that comes with a Test Lion. “He brings a level of communication that comes with experience. That confidence to challenge other senior players during the training session”, chirped, Pivac. “I think it’s fantastic he’s keeping everyone on their toes. As a 9 you want everyone barking instructions. Nines and 10s have a role to play in terms of delivering the patterns and the plays that we want to use.” So reading between the lines, Webb appears to be ticking every box.
Rhys Webb's availability for the 2020 Six Nations has caused a stir among Wales fans https://t.co/uiH1NZOrzr
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 3, 2020
As for his captain, Alun Wyn Jones, again, there is the familiarity of playing together for a decade. At the Six Nations launch, mention of his name brought a smile, and due respect. “We all know what a quality player Rhys is. It will be good to see the competition we have at scrum-half. He’s gone through a bit to get back into the jersey. As long as he and his family are happy, I think Rhys will flourish as he has before. A Rhys Webb back in the mix with the two nines that we have, Tomas Williams and Gareth Davies, really puts a cat amongst the pigeons. It’s good to have him back in the mix and up for selection.”
When you think about Wales’ probable fly-half being Dan Biggar, someone who has played over 200-times with Webb since their late teens, and that understanding and natural ability to boss a pack shouldn’t be easily discarded by Pivac and his coaching team.
Of their natural understanding, Biggar once told this writer their familiarity gave them an advantage as a halfback pairing. “I can read his body language, how he’s shaping up, when he’s going to snipe, when you want to get on the end of a short pass.”
As for Webb, he knows for all the talk, it’s now down to him. There’s no doubt he’ll be hungry, having missed 23 Tests since his flight South. He’s already been doing ‘extras’ with old Bridgend scrum-half Kevin Ellis and as an obsessive trainer, you can be assured that he won’t be carrying extra timber.
Alun Wyn Jones seems to have the power of eternal life as he is set to commence his 15th year of Test rugby, but Wales must look at a Plan B for a post-AWJ future – @OwainJTJones takes a look at the contenders in line to potentially step uphttps://t.co/GId78C0zPt
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 21, 2020
Many naysayers will point to the fact he’s just turned 31 and say he’s a spent force but that’s a red herring. Look around the Six Nations. Ben Youngs is nine months younger, Willi Heinz is a year older. Over the Irish Sea, Conor Murray is only five months younger, and the recently retired Greig Laidlaw turned 34 in Japan – the same age Webb will be in France. Further afield, Will Genia was the same age at the World Cup, Aaron Smith is a month older and you’re not hearing catcalls to retire. With little rugby in the last 18 months, and some long injury-enforced breaks, Webb could have several years left.
With the Lions tour less than 18 months away, Warren Gatland, a confirmed fan, will be watching from afar with enough contacts to get regular, informed bulletins.
For Davies and Williams, life is about to get a lot more difficult and how they react will be instructive, while for Pivac, managed correctly, the talented trio could hold the key to retaining the Six Nations title.
Can Webb can retain the No 9 shirt? Don’t bet against it.
Comments on RugbyPass
Shame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
2 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
2 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to comments