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Woe Is Wales: The Case For A Coaching Clean-Out

By Lee Calvert
Rob Howley and Warren Gatland

The Springboks’ bleak performance art is the only thing stopping Wales from being the most depressing tier one rugby nation at the moment, writes Lee Calvert.

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As Sam Davies’ drop goal sailed between the posts to seal his side’s narrow win over Japan on Saturday, interim Wales coach Rob Howley stood unmoved in his glass coaching box, poured into a supermarket suit, headset wrapped around his bemused phizog. He looked for all the world like a first day sales rep struggling to think of anything enticing to say about the tat he was peddling. Which was not actually that far away from reality.

In the opposite box Japanese coach Jamie Joseph, still looking like one of the hardest men on the planet, appeared disappointed but largely satisfied after his side’s narrow loss. Why wouldn’t he? His side is still not exactly a rugby power, are currently in transition and on this tour are shorn of many of their usual starters. Yet they once again ran a tier one nation close, as they have done at every opportunity in the last 12 months.

Over at Twickenham, Japan’s old coach Eddie Jones was overseeing his (also transitioning) England team as they dismantled Fiji. Remember, last time Fiji turned up they put the full frighteners on Stuart Lancaster’s England during the World Cup. Here, fourteen months on, their return visit saw the islanders biblically tonked.

In Edinburgh, Vern Cotter’s face glowered out of his giant head dome as his team looked enterprising and pacey in their win over Argentina. Big Vern doesn’t  really do human emotions, but he must have been at least a bit happy. Finally, Joe Schmidt and his new assistants saw his team compete both tactically and physically with the All Blacks for the second time in three weeks.

What jumps out of these vignettes is that Wales aside, these teams have seen or are about to see some changes in their coaching setup.

To its credit, rugby is a game where coaching changes are not of the knee-jerk football variety; coaches are given sufficient resources to make a difference and it is recognised that the most important resource is time. Moreover, rugby is also mature enough to recognise that simply changing a coach is often not the answer.

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But pig-headed obsession with continuity can lead to some stupid decisions. Like having a baby to save a miserable marriage, the Welsh Rugby Union recently renewed the contracts of each of their coaching staff up to 2019, despite the fact that Wales have been standing still or going backwards for three years with their gameplan.

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When the slightest hint of some improvement came along in the summer, the elders at the WRU decided to allow Warren Gatland to have an extra-marital affair with the Lions, leaving Howley, Rob MacBryde and Shaun Edwards holding the team, a sticking plaster baby that won’t succumb to a routine and regularly shits itself in public.

For nearly a decade Wales have done the same thing with the same coaches, but the problem for them is for the latter part of this decade everyone else in other teams has started doing other things.  The most damning indictment of Wales now is that, unlike any other major team, it is basically impossible to answer the question, “what is this team good at?” Difficult isn’t it?

With the exception of South Africa, who seem to have transformed into some depressing modern art installation entitled ‘Pointless Befuddlement’, every other team this weekend had something they specifically do well. England have their forwards, Japan have pace and hands, Scotland have their pacey rucking game back, Australia have creativity, Ireland their omnivorous defence and classy halfbacks, and New Zealand are New Zealand.

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Most worrying for Wales fans is that it is clear that Rob Howley cannot answer that question either and looks to have no idea what to do about it.

Wales needs a total overhaul of their coaching staff, but the trouble is it will cost the WRU nearly £2 million in compensation to achieve this due to their own stupidity in locking them in in such long contracts despite all evidence demonstrating it was a very bad idea.

Instead Wales fans can look forward to a whole season of not being good at anything while Howley looks bewildered, Edwards looks like smoke is about to start billowing from his ears and nobody knows what MacBryde looks like as he never lifts his phizog from staring at the laptop screen.

Eventually Warren Gatland will come back.  But even then there is not a lot of evidence to suggest this will make things any better.

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J
Jon 46 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 3 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 8 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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