LONG READ Welsh talent factory needs to deliver to engage the fans and provide some Autumn cheer

It’s a long time since former Wales head coach Gareth Jenkins declared: “Rugby is like baking a cake. You source the ingredients and put them all together. Then comes cooking time – when you are trying to win trophies.”

One of Burry Port’s finest was speaking after his then Llanelli side destroyed Cardiff 39-10 in a memorable Welsh Cup semi-final in 1999. History tells us Scott Gibbs’ Swansea did the equivalent of cutting off the power supply for the Scarlets in the final, winning 37-10 at Ninian Park, but that’s another matter.

The cake analogy is what concerns us here. Specifically, how is Wales team boss Steve Tandy shaping up on the baking front heading into the latest round of Nations Championship matches?

No-one could accuse the coach’s immediate predecessors Wayne Pivac and Warren Gatland of not at least trying to make the sponge rise. The pair handed out no fewer than 56 Test debuts between 2020 and 2024, but, ultimately, neither could sustain success or anything like it in those turbulent pre-Tandy years.

On occasions during that period, Welsh supporters could have been forgiven for yearning for bygone days, when even hard times occasionally came with a dash of levity, if not so much in the case of the notoriously hard-to-amuse Gethin Jenkins after he was referred to as ‘Mr Jennings’ by a French media officer during a post-match press conference. Unsurprisingly, a peal of laughter from the great Wales prop didn’t ring around the room.

Back to today’s man in charge. In 12 Tests since assuming command 14 months ago, Tandy has dished out first caps to nine players. Is he reaching the stage where we can at least start believing he has anything like the right mix to take Wales forward, or are further trips to the supermarket aisles required?

The coming Nations Championship matches will tell us much.

Welsh rugby being Welsh rugby, there will never cease to be calls for outsiders to be ushered in – not tomorrow, not later on today, but right now, before the hour is up, with a fast car sent to collect all concerned and whisk them across to Wales’s Vale of Glamorgan training base.

Steffan Emanuel deserved his player-of-the-game bauble after standing out for Cardiff in their 26-0 defeat of the Ospreys. Everything he did had class stamped across it, from his passing to his running and his ability to make the right decisions.

He had a hand in three of Cardiff’s tries and, on the other side of the ball, he made 17 tackles, including a try-saver that saw him hold up Keelan Giles in the final seconds. Tom Shanklin wasn’t overstating matters when he said afterwards: “This is a game where he has announced himself onto the big stage.” Others went further, wanting the 20-year-old to be propelled into the national set-up with the rapidity of a same-day Amazon delivery.

But Emanuel has started only nine senior matches, and fast-tracking a youngster into the unforgiving world of Test rugby is not without perils, with the risk being that he will jump from A to Z  in his development, missing out on all stops in between. Brought along at the right pace, and allowed to develop his skills, he could make a big impression if or when the call from on high eventually comes.

Much the same goes for Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, Tom Bowen and Lewis Edwards, bright prospects all, but still carrying L-plates. Plaudits they have had so far are well deserved, but more than anything they need experience. Exceptions to the rule are few and far between.

The good news for Tandy is that a number of the players he has picked in his autumn panel are in form ahead of the championship that kicks back into gear this weekend, none more so than Jac Morgan.

What more can be said about Gloucester’s shiny new acquisition from the Ospreys? He is defending better than Rumpole of the Old Bailey right now – ask Bath, with Morgan making 20 tackles without missing against them recently.

The former Osprey also carried like a demon in the same game. He may have the odd day off, but he doesn’t seem to do off days. A worthy heir to Williams, Warburton and Tipuric? Absolutely.

Louis Rees-Zammit has also been looking the part, with his move back to the wing revitalising him. The try he scored for Bristol Bears against Leicester Tigers saw him leave a school of opponents trailing in his vapour stream. So clean was the break there was even time for a triumphant arm in the air five metres from the try line. This was Rees-Zammit enjoying his rugby again, as swaggering as a Teddy Boy with a leather jacket and hair slicked bar circa 1955.

Blair Murray, Tomos Williams, Aaron Wainwright and Dewi Lake – the only player to start in every one of the dozen Tests Tandy has overseen – are among others who have been making headlines and waves of late.

Tandy would also have been encouraged by Rhys Carre’s return to the fray after injury, with the big man showing up well for Saracens against Harlequins. He took a wrecking ball to Quins’ scrum and made a mark around the field. Compiling player ratings, one writer marked the 20st 11lb loosehead a full two points clear of any of his Saracens team-mates, hailing him as ‘outstanding’. The chap wasn’t wrong.

Blair Murray, Tomos Williams, Aaron Wainwright and Dewi Lake – the only player to start in every one of the dozen Tests Tandy has overseen – are among others who have been making headlines and waves of late.

If Tomas Francis has been used mainly as a bench option for Sale Sharks, many Wales supporters will be reassured if the experienced scrum anchor features in the matchday 23 for his country throughout the series ahead.

Tandy needs the Welsh set-piece to hold up and he also needs one of his two young fly-halves, Dan Edwards and Sam Costelow, to nail down the No. 10 jersey. Both have promise, but the Wales head coach requires authority and consistency from the man who gets the nod.

If one or both can take a great leap forward over the coming weeks it will be a huge plus for the Wales management.

A strong month from Eddie James also wouldn’t go amiss from Tandy’s perspective. The Scarlet broke through as a Test player in last season’s Six Nations, looking the part with his strong running, even if 99.9 percent of the Welsh public – or thereabouts – seemed convinced he should have been starting at inside centre rather than at 13, where he’s being deployed against Japan.

Running into next year’s World Cup, Tandy will need to be certain in his own mind he is utilising the youngster in the right role.

Few will bet the kids’ inheritance on Wales toppling New Zealand, whatever side the All Blacks field, but a decent performance would set them up for a tilt at Australia

How will Wales fare over the coming weeks? It goes without saying they need to see off Japan, and if they can do that convincingly, so much the better in terms of building confidence for the rest of the championship.

Few will bet the kids’ inheritance on Wales toppling New Zealand, whatever side the All Blacks field, but a decent performance would set them up for a tilt at Australia, who can be a difficult team to read – scraping past Japan in one of two Tests they played against the Brave Blossoms in August, then scoring a big win over South Africa in September before suffering a couple of heavy defeats against New Zealand. Up and down, then.

But, of course, Wales haven’t been properly on their feet for a long time.

A good autumn would encourage hope that there might be semi-brighter times ahead, notwithstanding the off-field issues that continue to hamper Welsh rugby. Some will feel until those are sorted and a measure of harmony restored, the game on the western side of the Severn will continue to be running up a down escalator.

But Tandy will hope his players can provide a dot of cheer. It won’t be easy or remotely straightforward, but, then again, nothing in the game in Wales ever is.