Welsh Seeds of Hope Absentmindedly Sprayed With Weedkiller
Warren Gatland’s squad’s lack of depth has been horribly exposed on their tour of New Zealand, writes Lee Calvert.
In a column a few weeks ago, I made the point that Warren Gatland needed to change his gameplan and set the talent in Wales’ 1st XV free, so that even if his team and their fans leave New Zealand without a victory, they could at least head home with some satisfaction and a few seeds of hope. The previous week has more or less killed these seeds like a drunken farmer who picked up the weedkiller instead of the plant food.
First came the abject humiliation of a team of Welsh squad players being completely dismantled by a thrown-together Chiefs side led by the one and only Stephen Donald. This midweek misery was followed by the second test bringing another defeat at the hands of the All Blacks.
While the test defeat is in many ways for Wales simply a case of being beaten by a better team, the Chiefs defeat flashed in the sky like a humiliating Batman spotlight further highlighting the systemic issues that plague Welsh rugby.
This was a chance for the fringe Wales players to put their hands in the air and demand attention and selection for the test team; instead it turned into a trip to a spelling bee for the dunce class. With the exception of Luke Charteris, who is an established test player anyhow, they were awful. The performances of wingers Eli Walker and Tom James were so bad that for the Wellington test Gatland opted to move Liam Williams, his outstanding fullback, onto the wing and bring in the inexperienced Rhys Patchell, usually a 10, to the unfamiliar number 15 shirt for only his third cap against the best team in the world.
This was not simply a bad week for the squad players, but indicative of the malaise that Welsh rugby’s player development structures have been in for some time and probably will be for a while. Roger Lewis, the previous WRU Chief Executive, left the position under some criticism in 2015 and was replaced by Martyn Phillips. Lewis made a large point on his departure of the success the national team had enjoyed under his tenure: three Grand Slams, a Rugby World Cup semi and a shout for being the best team in Europe. All fair points, but what he failed to mention was how he had abandoned any plans to ensure that this continued.
Professional rugby is an expensive business to run and the teams that compete week in, week out require money to ensure they have the resources to keep bringing through the requisite number of players of the requisite standard to play international rugby. This is a given.
In Ireland, which has a similar regional rugby system to Wales, the IRFU has spent just short of €30m a year on its regions since 2011. By comparison, in 2012 the WRU under Roger Lewis spent £15.1m on the regions, in 2013, it was £16.9m. In 2013, the IRFU spent €32m. Stark differences.
The Welsh Rugby Union under Lewis simply did not hand over enough money to ensure that that the players continued to be produced. Players cannot be complacently knitted from some magical twine of previous success, it takes a large amount of concrete investment and commitment to the part those further down the chain play in creating elite success.
This lack of investment has led to dwindling success in domestic and European competition for Welsh regions. The national team’s wider resources have been growing weaker since 2012, something which was ruthlessly highlighted in the pre-RWC2015 injury crisis and which culminated in fifteen squad players being prison shamed by a second/third string Super Rugby team last Tuesday evening.
Moving forward, the WRU under new CEO Martyn Phillips is tied into contracts that Lewis signed, both in terms of income and debt servicing, leaving his ability to free up funds for this essential investment stymied, so it could be some time until the volume of quality players from the regions begins to reach the levels that produced the likes of Leigh Halfpenny, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton and Jamie Roberts, to name just a few.
Comments on RugbyPass
To me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
30 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
30 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
30 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
30 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
30 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
30 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
30 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments