Another new chapter (81)
- 2 Oct 07, 03:36 PM
Swansea - Well what can I say?
What an absolutely torrid weekend. and .
I can’t say that I’m hugely surprised that Gareth was asked to vacate his position following the defeat on Saturday because history has shown us that when the national team underachieves heads have tended to roll - and this World Cup campaign will be categorised as an underachievement.
The sheer weight of passion that this nation holds for its team means that the emotions of the people following a defeat such as Saturday’s go beyond just disappointment, but the truth of the matter is there will be nobody more dejected than the boys who went out on the field on Saturday and in the weeks previously, together with our management team.
The country’s television and radio stations have been consumed by post-match comment and analysis and fingers are inevitably being pointed, seemingly because it is only by apportioning blame that the common grievances of the fans can be appeased.
The responsibility this time round has been placed squarely at Gareth Jenkins’ door with the swell of public opinion to remove him from his role ironically rivalling the swell of public opinion that put him in the job in the first place.
They’ll say that international sport is a results-driven business, and rightly so, and in black and white our record during Gareth’s tenure does not make for pleasant reading.
But that is a fairly simplistic view and, after coming into the job with limited time available to prepare for this tournament, does not take into account all of the hard work Gareth has put in to make this chapter in his career a success.
I don’t think there can be many people around the world with a more fervent passion for their sport or their country than Gareth and he is a patriotic and proud Welshman, therefore, the fans should appreciate that he will be hurting as much as anyone.
I’ve no doubt that Gareth will use this episode in his life to move on and rekindle the great successes he had at Llanelli for all those years in another role and wherever that role may be, he will bring bags of passion and enthusiasm to it, not to mention his astute rugby brain and coaching talent.
As for the game itself, however little a consolation it is, it must be said that it was a tremendous match. Both teams scored outstanding tries and it was a pity for us that we took so long to click into gear.
I was sat watching the game in the living room and couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing in that first half. Credit to Fiji, though, they produced a magnificent spell and we couldn’t live with it for a period and as happens on a rugby field when facing a purple patch like that we got a little shell-shocked.
When we produced a purple patch of our own at the beginning of the second half, though, we looked like world beaters again but unfortunately that was the story of this World Cup for us – magnificent in patches but fairly indifferent sometimes too.
It could have been so different though had we not missed opportunities early in the first half and had Stephen and James had a little more luck with their place kicking or the ball had bounced differently for us.
I don’t ever remember being involved in a game where we hit the woodwork three times!
So it must be said, amid the calls for the restructuring of the game in Wales and wholesale playing and coaching changes that, had we scraped through that game, we would likely be mopping our brows after a close shave then heading into a quarter-final with South Africa believing that a stellar performance could see us march into the semis – so as disappointed as we all are, we do need to let the dust settle and gain some perspective on the issue.
The search for a new coach however has begun and, starting with South Africa in November, another new chapter in the turbulent world of Welsh rugby begins.
I must also take the opportunity to pay tribute to Martyn Williams who has announced his retirement from the international scene.
Nugget seems to have been around forever and in his 76 caps I’d challenge anyone to recall a bad game that he had.
Very few make it to the top of their fields in sport and even fewer show the longevity and consistency of performance that Martyn has and there is no doubt that whoever takes over the mantle of the number seven shirt has an immensely tough act to follow.
He has been a true servant to Wales and he will be sorely missed in the squad on and off the field but I wish him all the luck in the world for the future and I’m sure we’ll get to tangle a few more times yet in the domestic game.
Ryan Jones plays number eight for Wales but misses the World Cup through injury.
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I'm not sure anyone is questioning the passion and commitment of those involved, or the fact that they are hurting as much as the fans.
But it would be good to hear an insider's view on why we haven't made progress from the Grand Slam season?
The core of that successful team is still there, plus some excellent additional talent (AW Jones being the prime example). Yet in performance terms we seem to have gone backwards.
That seems to be a collective failing, but the cause of it appear a little elusive.
Thanks for the Nugget tribute. He will be missed, but we have to be hugely thankful he's been around for so long.
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Ryan, have a look at the comments on 606. The vast majority of comments there regarding what has befallen the Welsh team, and Gareth Jenkins in particular, have been directed in ire towards the WRU and its inept board, although a measure of responsibility rests with Gareth Jenkins and the team.
As members of the Welsh public we look to those who run the WRU to do the decent thing. We also look to those who will run the WRU after them to really look after rugby in Wales and to produce teams that produce selfless rugby and not self-aggrandising displays.
The Welsh team could have gone far in the competition. However it could only have done that as a team, on and off the field and if it was properly supported by the WRU.
The individuality that Shane Williams and Martyn Williams showed needs to be part of a team effort that is based on doing the basics right. The Welsh national Saint - David, has a saying attributed to him - to do the little things right. When that happens the big things follow. Let everybody involved in Welsh rugby do that.
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It was not just hitting the post three times.Wales were poor but deserved to win. Other teams play poorly but win matches without all this comment. The match was given to Fiji by the TV ref who awarded a try when he couldn't possibly have seen the ball being grounded. Why is no-one pointing this out? The Fijians were allowed forward passes and high tackles. This was only the latest in a line of abysmal refereeing performances affecting Wales going back about four seasons which never provokes any comment.
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It was not just hitting the post three times.Wales were poor but deserved to win. Other teams play poorly but win matches without all this comment. The match was given to Fiji by the TV ref who awarded a try when he couldn't possibly have seen the ball being grounded. Why is no-one pointing this out? The Fijians were allowed forward passes and high tackles. This was only the latest in a line of abysmal refereeing performances affecting Wales going back about four seasons which never provokes any comment.
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Ryan,
I still dont understand why everyone in the media, goes on about Gareth Jenkins having a groundswell of support that ushered him into the job in the 1st place. Everyone I know could not believe that he had been give the job, and we all new that he would be so far out of his depth as head coach of wales. As for everyone mentioning his passion for wales, surely it is coaching ability that counts, otherwise we should have employed Ray Gravell!!!!
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I suppose times have changed, but could we have Mike Ruddock back please?
The current Wales squad is essentially the same as that which, coached by Ruddock, became the first British team to win a series in Argentina, lost by 2 points to South Africa and 1 point to New Zealand and went on to a Grand Slam - their first for 27 years. Under Jenkins we have been knocked out of the world cup by a side that only just squeaked past Japan...V. poor.
Of course, once the team takes to the field, there is only so much the coach can do. It is up to the players to make the correct decisions - what about all those scrums when a lineout nearer the line or 3 points would have done in the opening minutes of the first half against Fiji? It is also up to the players to play for 80 minutes not 40. If the pool matches had been decided on second-half performances, then not only would Wales have qualified for the quarters, they would have done so top of the group since they 'beat' Australia 17-7 and Fiji 24-13. Why not try to do it in both halves of the match?
And finally, yes, Martyn Williams has been an outstanding player for Wales over the years, but a player of his experience should really have run around under the posts when scoring his interception try against Fiji. Then, when we had a penalty at the end, we would only have needed 3 points to win, instead of 5 and a kick would have done the trick. Might have hit the woodwork, though...
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Martyn Williams for me was merely an extra member of the squad who was never a star of the team. That ended in 2005 when he missed out on the summer tour and stayed home to bulk up. He came into the 6 nations team on the back of injuries to other players and was simply world class.
I am gutted to hear he is standing down, and hope that he is given the chance to offer his talents and blatant knowledge of the game back to Welsh rugby in the future. (On the training paddock, not in the studio.)
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Ryan, I agree with your blog, and indeed with the responses to the blog.
The 'SWRU' must now look at themselves if we are to move on as a nation. Are the proper people sitting in the right places?? Why are we not looking to develop undoubted talents in the North and concentrating solely on a SMALL patch of our country (hence my SWRU snipe earlier).
For Wales to be a great nation once more, many things must change. We must reinvent and re-establish Welsh Rugby and not simply remove the head from a rotting carcas..
Once a proud nation, we are now dumped into the 2nd tier of world rugby.
We have the players - do we have the management to match?
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Ref post 3 - Tim Lawrence.
Let's not just look at the poor refereeing going on in the Wales Fiji game, there have been some bad takles missed in lots of the games, and more forward passes than I've seen from a social third fifteen on a rugby tour.
I completely agree the try could not have been given by the TMO, only by the referee, but as he wasn't sure, surely that meant a five metre scrum.
Ryan, who do you think will lay the best claim to the number seven shirt in the foreseeable future then?
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Well said Ryan, i think Gareth J was fired a bit early, should have waited for the 6 nations. But in other views, now would be a good time to start with a new coach going into the 6 nations next year. Who would you like to see become coach next?
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I suppose times have changed, but could we have Mike Ruddock back please?
The current Wales squad is essentially the same as that which, coached by Ruddock, became the first British team to win a series in Argentina, lost by 2 points to South Africa and 1 point to New Zealand and went on to a Grand Slam - their first for 27 years. Under Jenkins we have been knocked out of the world cup by a side that only just squeaked past Japan...V. poor.
Of course, once the team takes to the field, there is only so much the coach can do. It is up to the players to make the correct decisions - what about all those scrums when a lineout nearer the line or 3 points would have done in the opening minutes of the first half against Fiji? It is also up to the players to play for 80 minutes not 40. If the pool matches had been decided on second-half performances, then not only would Wales have qualified for the quarters, they would have done so top of the group since they 'beat' Australia 17-7 and Fiji 24-13. Why not try to do it in both halves of the match?
And finally, yes, Martyn Williams has been an outstanding player for Wales over the years, but a player of his experience should really have run around under the posts when scoring his interception try against Fiji. Then, when we had a penalty at the end, we would only have needed 3 points to win, instead of 5 and a kick would have done the trick. Might have hit the woodwork, though...
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Ref post 3 - Tim Lawrence.
Let's not just look at the poor refereeing going on in the Wales Fiji game, there have been some bad takles missed in lots of the games, and more forward passes than I've seen from a social third fifteen on a rugby tour.
I completely agree the try could not have been given by the TMO, only by the referee, but as he wasn't sure, surely that meant a five metre scrum.
Ryan, who do you think will lay the best claim to the number seven shirt in the foreseeable future then?
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Ryan,
Asking any Welshman to put this defeat into perspective is almost insulting. You are a part of the best Wales team in terms of talent that there has been since about 1987, the semi-finals should have been a realistic goal, and the fact is that we never even approached that. There will never be a better chance than that we had at this world cup to beat a southern hemisphere power, and yet Australia completely outplayed us, in our own backyard!!!! I'd love to know what went on in the Mike Ruddock affair last year because it hurts me now to think that it was player power that has effectively robbed the country of such a world class coach, I bet Worcester play superior rugby to us with him in charge now. I would just like to hear some explanation from either Gareth Jenkins, Alan Philips or a Key player as to why we've so underperformed because so far I've heard excuses from everyone concerned. These blogs on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ have been interesting, and I remember when I read on one of them about Mark Jones putting a sheep in Dwayne Peels room that although innocuous and innocent as it sounded there was something about it that summed up the Welsh mindset. Can I imagine Doug Howlett doing that to Byron Kelleher, or Stirling Mortlock to George Gregan? No, because NZ and Australia are so professional that although I'm sure they have a joke now and again, I bet they'd never dream of doing anything like that. I'm still hurting and I just don't feel like all of this whitewashing is good enough, we have our golden generation coming through now, the one thats won so many under 21's 6 Nation championships. We need to get everything in order, to be the most effective and professional rugby nation we can be. Whether that comes from moving the WRU into the 21st century as both a business and rugby organisation, or from appointing the best coach possible then so be it, but if we miss this chance then it'll be the biggest waste, even bigger than the waste that happened on sunday against Fiji.
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in reply to comment #1, to be honest mate have you ever thought that 2005 may just have been a fluke? im sure it's crossed everyone elses!
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As an Englishman (Aparently hated ?) I would just like to say for what its worth that I thoroughly enjoyed the Wales Fiji game last Saturday. The Welsh side showed alot of character to come back as they did and played some great rugby in the process ! I for one was cheering them on ! It was sad to see them lose given such the strength of character they showed. I m sure someone will take a pop at me but I genuinely mean it !
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It's the guys at the top who are to blame here. Why appoint Jenkins if he was not up to the task in their eyes, to begin with?? Making an appointment for the sake of it was asking for trouble. There needs to be a shake-up and following on from Richard Isaac's thread above, it probably needs to come from abroad. We need proper professional business people here. The old boys network involved at present doesn't appear bright or professional enough to run a tight outfit as is required here. A bit too much scratching of backs without tackling the real issue - the making of a world-beating XV. The real question as already highlighted above is how does a gram slam side with everything going for it, dissolve into a bit of a laughing stock with what seems to be an unprofessional approach to matches? How has everything been forgotten? Ryan is not a position to answer this question as it's a bit sensitive, but it's simple really, get coached by a guy who is not quite on the pulse, who was appointed by those who haven't got a clue..... oh and for extra screw-ups, just add a little player power!
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Ryan,
Asking any Welshman to put this defeat into perspective is almost insulting. You are a part of the best Wales team in terms of talent that there has been since about 1987, the semi-finals should have been a realistic goal, and the fact is that we never even approached that. There will never be a better chance than that we had at this world cup to beat a southern hemisphere power, and yet Australia completely outplayed us, in our own backyard!!!! I'd love to know what went on in the Mike Ruddock affair last year because it hurts me now to think that it was player power that has effectively robbed the country of such a world class coach, I bet Worcester play superior rugby to us with him in charge now. I would just like to hear some explanation from either Gareth Jenkins, Alan Philips or a Key player as to why we've so underperformed because so far I've heard excuses from everyone concerned. These blogs on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ have been interesting, and I remember when I read on one of them about Mark Jones putting a sheep in Dwayne Peels room that although innocuous and innocent as it sounded there was something about it that summed up the Welsh mindset. Can I imagine Doug Howlett doing that to Byron Kelleher, or Stirling Mortlock to George Gregan? No, because NZ and Australia are so professional that although I'm sure they have a joke now and again, I bet they'd never dream of doing anything like that. I'm still hurting and I just don't feel like all of this whitewashing is good enough, we have our golden generation coming through now, the one thats won so many under 21's 6 Nation championships. We need to get everything in order, to be the most effective and professional rugby nation we can be. Whether that comes from moving the WRU into the 21st century as both a business and rugby organisation, or from appointing the best coach possible then so be it, but if we miss this chance then it'll be the biggest waste, even bigger than the waste that happened on sunday against Fiji.
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Wales won the Grand Slam in2005 because they were the best of a fairly mediocre bunch. Similarly England won the World Cup in 2003.
Teams move on, adapt their tactics and develop their younger talent. This cannot be said of any of the Hoe nations.
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Nos 3 and 8 - you're having a laugh surely? Three of the Welsh tries involved forward passes and the last Fiji try was definitely a try - much more clear cut than others such as Sackey's first against Tonga.
Wales lost because their defence was marginally worse than Fiji's. Great game though.
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Some might argue that Wales had the best coach in the world in Graham Henry but player power again disagreed (Steven Jones was alledgedly the main man there). It is nothing to do with coaches - rubgy is a simple game. Structure is what counts and how to progress players into higher and higher levels of rugby. If NZ win the WC, I would say it would have very little do with Graham Henry, as I am sure Steven Jones would.
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Its not just about our defence being slightly worse than Fiji.
These days a lot more is on Aggresive defence, Making the tackle turning the ball over and turning it into attack all in one go.
Fiji did it all throught he match.
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Its not just about our defence being slightly worse than Fiji.
These days a lot more is on Aggresive defence, Making the tackle turning the ball over and turning it into attack all in one go.
Fiji did it all through the match.
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I'm absolutely gutted that we're out of the world cup at this stage, I still can't quite believe it. Lets hope we find the right coach this time because I think we've got the most talented bunch of players we've had in a long long time. PS - SJ I still think you're ace!!!
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Ryan, you're turning into Dallaglio yer big jessy. Nevermind about blogs and dishing out boring platitudes in the television studio. You're becoming less interesting to listen to the further your last good game disappears into the distant past.
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Ryan, you're turning into Dallaglio yer big jessy. Nevermind about blogs and dishing out boring platitudes in the television studio. You're becoming less interesting to listen to the further your last good game disappears into the distant past.
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Ryan, you're turning into Dallaglio yer big jessy. Nevermind about blogs and dishing out boring platitudes in the television studio. You're becoming less interesting to listen to the further your last good game disappears into the distant past.
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The thing that frustrates me about current Welsh performances is that we get it SO wrong on the day and don't seem to be able to change the game plan and adapt when things are not working. Against Fiji our backs were not big enough to smash through the centres and yet we tried it for 80 mins! Jiffy Davies summed it up, we should have mauled the legs off them for 40 mins and attacked the inside shoulder of their outside half, getting runners in behind them. It saddens me, as a number 10, to see that we don't seem to be able to get away from a set, rigid game plan. With defences winning games these days you have to mix it up a bit and keep them guessing - we did it for 10 mins against Australia and Fiji and looked awesome.
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I can't believe how people continue to snipe at the achievments of 2005. The opposition was apparently mediocre.
So, E,S,I, It and Fr were mediocre? and the Australian team that was put to the sword? and the Argentinians on their own soil? And we narrowly lost by 2 points to a mediocre SA team and by 1 point to a mediocre NZ team?
Give me strength!
We are all hurting, things have gone seriously wrong, but that's no excuse to go badmouthing everything that moves on the pitch with a red jersey this century. That's just plain ludicrous. Talk about 2nd tier rugby? That's 2nd tier supporting, as such we don't deserve a decent rugby team
France and Ireland were strong, Oz were no pushovers. You do a great injustice. As for Nugget, he was one person you knew would give his all. In the mediocre season of 2005, he turned the game on its head in Paris in 10 glorious minutes and Wales showed both Brains and Brawn. Don't knock him either, he did his nation proud.
Good article, Ryan. Keep 'em coming and get fit soon.
As for the WRU - they are the true village idiots of rugby
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I can't believe how people continue to snipe at the achievments of 2005. The opposition was apparently mediocre.
So, E,S,I, It and Fr were mediocre? and the Australian team that was put to the sword? and the Argentinians on their own soil? And we narrowly lost by 2 points to a mediocre SA team and by 1 point to a mediocre NZ team?
Give me strength!
We are all hurting, things have gone seriously wrong, but that's no excuse to go badmouthing everything that moves on the pitch with a red jersey this century. That's just plain ludicrous. Talk about 2nd tier rugby? That's 2nd tier supporting, as such we don't deserve a decent rugby team
France and Ireland were strong, Oz were no pushovers. You do a great injustice. As for Nugget, he was one person you knew would give his all. In the mediocre season of 2005, he turned the game on its head in Paris in 10 glorious minutes and Wales showed both Brains and Brawn. Don't knock him either, he did his nation proud.
Good article, Ryan. Keep 'em coming and get fit soon.
As for the WRU - they are the true village idiots of rugby
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I can't believe how people continue to snipe at the achievments of 2005. The opposition was apparently mediocre.
So, E,S,I, It and Fr were mediocre? and the Australian team that was put to the sword? and the Argentinians on their own soil? And we narrowly lost by 2 points to a mediocre SA team and by 1 point to a mediocre NZ team?
Give me strength!
We are all hurting, things have gone seriously wrong, but that's no excuse to go badmouthing everything that moves on the pitch with a red jersey this century. That's just plain ludicrous. Talk about 2nd tier rugby? That's 2nd tier supporting, as such we don't deserve a decent rugby team
France and Ireland were strong, Oz were no pushovers. You do a great injustice. As for Nugget, he was one person you knew would give his all. In the mediocre season of 2005, he turned the game on its head in Paris in 10 glorious minutes and Wales showed both Brains and Brawn. Don't knock him either, he did his nation proud.
Good article, Ryan. Keep 'em coming and get fit soon
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GJ gathered around him a bunch of coaches that he was comfortable with. no one to challenge him with his ideas - this is poor management style- just a bunch of mates who hate the likes of Gavin Henson. Can you imagine how brent coblain would have relished the challenge by Fijian muscle men.
we now have to appoint a caretaker manager. Step forward Neil Jenkins.
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Remember at the height of Welsh power when they won the Grand Slam in 2005, Fiji lost against Wales and IN CARDIFF by a single point....surely they should have at least sensed a loss was not to distant in the future. Every man and his dog wrote Fiji off from the start.
The winds of change are here, NH so called superpower teams look pathetic in this tournament. No pride, no passion, just a lot of money looking ever so more like spoilt rich european football teams.
Its simple, SH have no respect for NH who have forgotted what the rugby code is all about. And they are getting their grassroot lessons this RWC 07
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hey lets not forget this da world cup n things at stake.wales had all da presure on tham to perform while fiji had nothing to lose.da fiji boys played their hearts out n was evident at break down where 6-7 players comited while max 4 wales.hardly hia in fiji plp thoght fj will win till 2 days b4 da game.all of lucky punters who were paid $12 for fj win.next fiji playin sa on FIJI DAY HOLIDAY...neva count them out
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I have to say i am disspointed with the decision to sack Gareth Jenkins after only 18 months in charge. Ok, we under performed at the World Cup, but you have to look at the bigger picture.
Should the WRU Blazers have gone with him? The game of Rugby in the UK has gone professional and proved successful, attracting overseas players, flourishing new young talent, enjoyable games of rugby. The WRU structure is still in the dark ages, it does not reflect the modern game! Also, there were 15 players in each of the games Wales played in the group stage, should they be dropped? Some key members failed to perform, we missed so many chances that proved costly in the end.
If S Jones & J Hook had kicked the three goal kicks they missed bewteen them, would Jenkins have gone?
Wales need to look at themselves and prove to the nation, they are not a world ranking 10 team!
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Remember at the height of Welsh power when they won the Grand Slam in 2005, Fiji lost against Wales and IN CARDIFF by a single point....surely they should have at least sensed a loss was not to distant in the future. Every man and his dog wrote Fiji off from the start. Gave no respect to Tonga, Argentina and Samoa for this world cup.
The winds of change are here, NH so called superpower teams look pathetic in this tournament. No pride, no passion, just a lot of money looking ever so more like spoilt rich european football teams.
Its simple, SH have no respect for NH who have forgotted what the rugby code is all about. And they are getting their grassroot lessons this RWC 07
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Food for Thought
thanks to the boys in white (Fiji) that we have seen a major upset that we always wanted to see but were refused by inexperience, match fitness or refrees. But the bad part from the win on island nations would be that the IRB will be even more afraid, hence unwilling to support truly to help develop their rugby.
To those in IRB boards,accept it that you are not allowing the sport to grow to it's full potential because you are afraid that the power house ( the European teams, and NZ, SA and Australia) will lose their dominance that they have now. that may not be seen as good by you because of racism,money, fame or just mere discrimination in your hearts.
prove me and many others like me wrong by doing the justice that these small island nations deserve.Give them a chance to easily get their own players from overseas clubs and the money that they need together with the expertise they require.
Think global and the true spirit of the game. Cheers!
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What is wrong with u Welsh people?? Not one mention that u were beaten by the better team Fiji. A team from the Southern hemisphere i might add. This is poor from u and from all the Welsh people i know. You are seeing this as a disaster which is right but u still haven't realised that u were no good from the very start of this tournament. Forget about ur 6 nations grand slam for one second and jut realise that u simply are no good. In time u will be but for once have the heart and sportsmanship to acknowledge the team that was streets ahead of u on the day. Poor work Wales.
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What is wrong with u Welsh people?? Not one mention that u were beaten by the better team Fiji. A team from the Southern hemisphere i might add. This is poor from u and from all the Welsh people i know. You are seeing this as a disaster which is right but u still haven't realised that u were no good from the very start of this tournament. Forget about ur 6 nations grand slam for one second and jut realise that u simply are no good. In time u will be but for once have the heart and sportsmanship to acknowledge the team that was streets ahead of u on the day. Poor work Wales.
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Post number 33: "forgotted"?
that is all.
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Folks, I think that in order to clean house and start over, you must must first give Fiji -and other "second tier nations" from the SH, like Argentina and Tonga- the credit and respect they deserve.
Once you sincerely do that, you will be able to rebuild a competitive team not just for the 6N.
History repeats itself. If not, look at Ireland: Before the RWC, they thought the 1999 RWC was the darkest moment of Irish rugby, and they were going to walk right onto the semis this year.
re. comment #26 from Geraint: Efective Sep. 30th, the true village idiot of rugby has moved from Cardiff to Dublin.
Cheers!
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The problem we have in Wales after a disastrous RWC campaign is that all we semm to do is to apportione blame! Of course we must look at what went wrong, but all I keep hearing is that it's GJ fault, Player Power, WRU etc etc etc. It's time to put a stop to being so insular in our thinking! We need not only to figure out what the problems are, but to come up with solutions for them. A radical approach to find out the root cause of all the problems needs to be done. Allowing the WRU to dictate how this is to be done will be a mistake. It will become an iternal audit and the facts will be disguised or completely missed altogether. What we need is a full external review to analyse the exact problems which lie within our national team and to make strong recommendations to rectify them!
Continuous Improvement should have been evident since 2005, but this hasn't happened! We need to figure out why and quickly before we slip even further behind SH nations.
Lets hope the WRU have the vision and the courage to think out of the box so that we can get back to challenging SH supremacy.
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The problem we have in Wales after a disastrous RWC campaign is that all we semm to do is to apportione blame! Of course we must look at what went wrong, but all I keep hearing is that it's GJ fault, Player Power, WRU etc etc etc. It's time to put a stop to being so insular in our thinking! We need not only to figure out what the problems are, but to come up with solutions for them. A radical approach to find out the root cause of all the problems needs to be done. Allowing the WRU to dictate how this is to be done will be a mistake. It will become an iternal audit and the facts will be disguised or completely missed altogether. What we need is a full external review to analyse the exact problems which lie within our national team and to make strong recommendations to rectify them!
Continuous Improvement should have been evident since 2005, but this hasn't happened! We need to figure out why and quickly before we slip even further behind SH nations.
Lets hope the WRU have the vision and the courage to think out of the box so that we can get back to challenging SH supremacy.
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The demise of Gareth Jenkins as Welsh coach started at Murrayfield where the Welsh team did not ' turn up' and was later confirmed by the performance against England at Cardiff.
Both performances highlighted the notion that the coach was unable to plan a stratery to cope with the opposition.
Players need to be reminded about the oppositions strenghts,how to nullify them and then play to our strenghts
Scotland have rucked since Jim Telfer was coach & we didn't compete.In the England match we lacked self belief as England should have been buried long before half time.
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All the comments focus on poor coaching and lack of support or just poor rugby on the field. What I saw in the Fiji game was a failing that has beset Wales before and that is/was a lack of composure at a critical time in the game. One Wales try came after a grinding 5 to 10 minutes when the opportunity for 3 penalty kicks from very kickable distances were offered. I know Wales like to play the open and exciting game but in some situations you need to regroup, take the points and get on with the next planned and coached game plan. So for me what was missing in most of this world cup for Wales, and particularly in the Fiji game, was a man on the field motivating and controlling the play and making the right decisions at the right time. It was a great game and in the patches where Wales got their heads together they played like world beaters but sadly those moments of composure did not last the full 80 minutes.
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Whilst not defending Gareth Jenkins' dismal run of results as the coach of the national team, why is it that we always remove the coach as the solution to our problems? Six coaches in six years to be precise. Let's look at the Southern Hemisphere teams - no doubt they change their coaches (who tend to decide to leave/retire vs being sacked), but they do so in a measured and sensible way and the telling fact is that whoever coaches the players, they perform to a consistently high standard. New Zealand look set to triumph in this world cup led by a coach who we deemed as no longer any value to us as a nation and his deputy who we also let go from the national post. Strange. I believe there are two key factors that are driving Welsh rugby into the nadir it currently finds itself in. 1. The structure of the WRU and the archaic attitude of those who have power and influence. 2. The intelligence of the players on the field - the Fiji performance was utterly naive and was a classic rudderless Welsh performance of panic and blind stupidity. Yes we were 25 points down very quickly, but the pack were able to dictate field position and penalties were coming regularly. We had time to play with structure, kick the penalties and chip away at the lead as well as draining the exuberance of the Fiji team, instead we chose to panic, kick to touch and spend 15 mins playing like schoolboys before knocking it on.
Ruddock gave us the balance between structure and flair before Gareth Thomas and his cronies drove him out of his role. The sad fact is that we have regressed so badly we are now behind where we were at the 2003 RWC when we first discovered we had the players to play with the ball in hand but didn't have the structure to turn that into results.
Now is the time to appoint a coach who can transcend the player power, overhaul the committee starting with the self important Pickering and wave goodbye to Gareth Thomas and his mates so we can nurture the core of the side around truly talented players who have long term futures as intelligent rugby professionals
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Again I am aghast at the people asking for Mike Ruddock's return. He DID NOT build that Grandslam team, he just happened to come along just as the work of Steve Hansen, Scott Johnson and Andrew Hore came into fruition. To paraphrase an insider "Hansen and Johnson built that team, Mike Ruddock came along and sprayed a Welsh Dragon over it."
No more talk of M.R please!
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Re: Colin Taylor (post #37)
My bad, m still hungover from Fiji's win against Walez and typing juzt aint up2 scratch....
thnx for correction...but u do know wat i mean 'forgotten'...didn't know academics were online.
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Again I am aghast at the people asking for Mike Ruddock's return. He DID NOT build that Grandslam team, he just happened to come along just as the work of Steve Hansen, Scott Johnson and Andrew Hore came into fruition. To paraphrase an insider "Hansen and Johnson built that team, Mike Ruddock came along and sprayed a Welsh Dragon over it."
No more talk of M.R please!
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We have an organisation, WRU, run by amateurs. What qualifications has David Pickering got to be chairman of a multi million pound organisation? He was team manager, and basically has no grounding in business, management of change or anything else for that matter. He just happened to play for and captain wales a few times. He is without doubt one of the biggest liabilities in the organisation as is the entire board. They should go as they are ultimately responsible. Lets forget, for this initial period, about coaches, we've had the best and they couldnt do a great deal in the structure that is the WRU, blazers and back patting, it makes me sick as a passionate welshman living in Wales.
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'Tom Go Wallabies' - are you some sort of idiot? You obviously haven't read any of the comments from Welsh fans (many Welsh fans) congratualating Fiji on a well earned victory. Your rant is totally unwarranted.
Form in the group before the match pointed to a Welsh victory - Fiji barely beat Japan (holding out for a 4pt win after 5mins of constant pressure at the end of the game); scored a bonus point try in the last minute, when it looked like Canada were about to snatch a dramatic victory - and both teams had been well seen off by Wales. In the match itself, Wales scored 5 tries to 4, and hit the woodwork 3 times, and missed a penalty in front of the posts. So, the better team in my opinion, DIDN'T win, we just failed to manage the scoreboard as well as Fiji did. I really dislike ingracious winners, especially when that win was hardly overwhelming. The fact that we did lose, was as much down to our own poor play (especially in the first half) as it was to Fiji's great get up and go play, which once they got going, we failed to stop. I'll be utterly amazed if South Africa don't put 50-60 points on you.
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Let's for a moment forget the Fiji game, GJ's sacking and observe that we are in a position to re-evaluate the professional game in Wales.
It seems to me that if the Welsh team was a business, which it is, then the topmost structure would be under closest scrutiny. It looks to me that,for the present and near future we don't have the men of Wesh birth, to re-organise a dated system.
People have been apportioning some of the credit for Wales success in 2005 to GH, SH etc. Don't forget David Moffat in these thoughts.
When David Moffat was in charge things happened. We may agree or disagree that it was good or bad but we did have a grand slam AND other, almost, unprecedented successes. I think that he made mistakes but he also made great strides.
The WRU's mistake was to think that he had groomed Welshmen to take over. It isn't as easy as that.
During this period of "head hunting" the people who can make the difference need to "head hunt" the best executive management that money can buy from anywhere in the world. Anything else will be tinkering.
We bought the "best" coach in the world in Graham Henry then tied his hands by not taking his advice on restructuring the game. Clearly, from his comments when he was in charge, Steve Hansen felt the same.
We've tried most things. Now how about the club representatives (if they are the people with the power) doing something radical and getting in a professional executive (plural) and giving them free reign for several years to emulate "best practice" from successful rugby businesses around the world.
The present executive haven't even been able to induce Kevin Bowering to work for the country of his birth. That has to be because he feels insecure )who can blame him) working for an antiquated headless body like the WRU.
I should confess here that I think committees from chaples to social clubs are the bane of Welsh life. For all the good work of many committeemen many others are pompous and backward looking. The WRU club representatives appear, from a distance, to be easily fooled by the present executive.
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"Judge me on the world cup".
I believe thats whats happened. Sure its fair to say that he coach cant do much once the game starts, but it is his blueprint the players are following, just as it was Ruddock/Johnsons blueprint in 2005.
It appears over the last 12 months, that the players were sticking rigidly to it and there was a complete lack of game management over the 80 minutes. Regardless of your skill levels, if youre decision making is poor you wont win at that level. And that is the difference world class coaches bring - world class decision making.
There were fundamental flaws in GJs management of the training environment throughout his tenure. His man management of certain key players was atrocious (no names reqd), the level of professionalism was shockingly low - no drinking ban etc and his selection policies baffling.
And i dont buy this nonsense about us not being big enough, if you look at the stats on our players they are as big as any other international squad.
What we werent is smart or professional enough. And that starts at the top of the WRU tree - Their selection policy was fatally flawed. Sure, the Welsh public got behind Gareth because hes a nice enough guy and some people felt he deserved a chance. Most in the know realised he probably wasnt going to be able to make the step up - and his backroom staff selections confirmed that - not world class.
The WRU now needs to attract a World Class coach & backroom staff. They also need to impose some professionalism on the national squad. The players need appropriate man management and personalised physical & mental preparation in line with the latest techniques - they deserve to be given access to the best resources if the WRU is to expect them to develop into a top 3 international side.
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As a neutral, I recall saying in 2005 that, while Wales thoroughly deserved their Grand Slam, it had been a rather odd affair with perhaps 80 minutes of superb running rugby spread out over the five games. What actually did the job for Wales was a lot of dogged high quality defence- all the more necessary when one recalls that the Welsh lineout was a mess even in 2005 and their scrum was adequate rather than overpowering.
I've an awful feeling that 2005 may have been the worst thing that happened to Welsh rugby in that the team began to think they could run their way out of any situation after their comeback in Paris and that mundane things like managing the scoreboard didn't matter. Success doesn't half paper over the cracks in any side- in this case I wonder if it also bred a certain complacency and reluctance to address the deficiencies which were apparent even in the moment of triumph.
As far as the Fiji game was concerned, I'm still baffled by why Wales didn't have the wit to play it tight once they'd got back on terms in the second half. The Fijians were in trouble every time the scrum went down- so make them scrummage whenever possible and risk conceding turnovers or penalties. A spell of boring possession rugby might have taken the sap out of the Fijians' legs.
The refereeing was dire- possibly the worst in the tournament, though that particular award is going to be hotly contested. I can't for the life of me see how the TMO could conclude beyond a doubt that the final try had been scored (as a Scotland supporter I can think of a few occasions when we've gone over for what looked far more plausible tried and had them chalked off because the TMO couldn't see the ball). At best one could say it balanced out the clear forward passes on two if not three of the Wales tries. With a braver referee Fiji could easily have been playing much of the game with 14 men and a revolving door of players heading for the sin bin for high or dangerous tackles (but I suspect refs will always be afraid of accusations of racism and "cultural insensitivity" if they clamp down on the more violent intimidatory practices of the Pacific Islands sides- I'll be interested to see if the ref on Sunday will be braver when it's SA involved). On one level it was a brilliant game to watch but on others it left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth.
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A great piece Ryan, really sums up the mood of Wales at this time. I agree whole heartedly with your sentiments about the present state of Wales and the game. There are no prouder Welshmen than me, and I am probably not the only one who had a sleepless night on Saturday. Rugby is a religion in Wales that is part of the everyday fabric of peoples lives and it hurts so much when we underperform. It would be easier to take if we were simply rubbish, but we have so many great players, (including yourself Ryan, who I consider to be one of the best young forwards in the world) many of which won the Grand Slam for us in 2005. This begs the question - good players and teams do not go bad overnight, so how can the same players who played sublime rugby in 2005 be underperforming so much? I do not blame the players, although I do believe they need more confidence to regain that killer instinct. What we need now is reflection and a thorough search for a coach that can restore pride in the red jersey. The personal attacks on Jenkins are out of order, he was just not the right man for the job. I would love to see Ruddock come back, but only the players, Ruddock and WRU really know what happened there to poison the relationship, despite the roumur mill turning.... Wales have always loved an open game, we need to restore that element, with a little structure (but not too much), intelligence on the field, new leadership and confidence in our own abilities. We don't have the physical presence to deal with the Southern Hemisphere sides, yet we do have the ball handling skills to beat these sides and we need to restore some 'nouse' to the game. This is not panic stations, we are not in the 80' and early 90's. We have a good structure in Wales, great talent coming through, strength in depth (world class strength in depth in some areas ie scrum half, fly half, forwards..) and now we need some serious leadership from the WRU. There should only be one agenda at the WRU - making Wales a success and maintaining it. Hicksy
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i completely agree with what ur saying about things could have been so diff, and if we'd scrapped a win and had been heading toward south africa game everyone would be singging a diff tune......but...... top flight rugby is won and lost on narrow margins with smaller teams now competing in all aspects of game. it seems to me that in 2005 there was a def sense of increasing proffessionalism about the welsh squad with players having to compete for their places week in week out creating a real sense of hunger and competativeness. for this to happen there needs to be a ready source of fit and in form players which the welsh reigions are not currently producing.
the WRU should use this current call for change to perhaps expand the professional game further west of llanelli, and further north of merthyr do u not think ??? my own club at home have won national division three several times but have been denied promotion on the basis that the southern teams will not travel north even for one game a season! the WRU is currently overlooking three quarters of their (small) country and wonder why they are having difficulty producing significant numbers of top flight athletes. it doesnt take a genius !
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I hope the new coach doesn't listen to too much whining about player power. It seems we are all for player power when we're winning but don't want any of it when we lose.
From the ´óÏó´«Ã½ web site:
2007 :
Ex-captain Ieuan Evans says headstrong players and Welsh Rugby Union weakness contributed to Wales' World Cup exit and coach Gareth Jenkins' downfall.
"Jenkins made mistakes and allowed discipline to slip in the squad," Evans told ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales' Scrum V rugby show.
"There's a culture of complacency, the players having an undue influence, the new coach must address the problems
2006 :
Wales and Lions legend Ieuan Evans has praised the contribution of Ruddock during his time at the helm.
"He has empowered the players, which is a big step - the foundation was laid by Steve Hansen to get the basics right, but Mike Ruddock has given them the freedom to express themselves," Evans told ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport.
As a team grows in experience, players need to give their input and be listened to. Our new coach should be somebody who knows how to harness player power to get the most out of it without being led by it - just as any manager needs to take into consideration the views of the team he leads.
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i completely agree with what ur saying about things could have been so diff, and if we'd scrapped a win and had been heading toward south africa game everyone would be singging a diff tune......but...... top flight rugby is won and lost on narrow margins with smaller teams now competing in all aspects of game. it seems to me that in 2005 there was a def sense of increasing proffessionalism about the welsh squad with players having to compete for their places week in week out creating a real sense of hunger and competativeness. for this to happen there needs to be a ready source of fit and in form players which the welsh reigions are not currently producing.
the WRU should use this current call for change to perhaps expand the professional game further west of llanelli, and further north of merthyr do u not think ??? my own club at home have won national division three several times but have been denied promotion on the basis that the southern teams will not travel north even for one game a season! the WRU is currently overlooking three quarters of their (small) country and wonder why they are having difficulty producing significant numbers of top flight athletes. it doesnt take a genius !
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'Tom Go Wallabies' - are you some sort of idiot? You obviously haven't read any of the comments from Welsh fans (many Welsh fans) congratualating Fiji on a well earned victory. Your rant is totally unwarranted.
Form in the group before the match pointed to a Welsh victory - Fiji barely beat Japan (holding out for a 4pt win after 5mins of constant pressure at the end of the game); scored a bonus point try in the last minute, when it looked like Canada were about to snatch a dramatic victory - and both teams had been well seen off by Wales. In the match itself, Wales scored 5 tries to 4, and hit the woodwork 3 times, and missed a penalty in front of the posts. So, the better team in my opinion, DIDN'T win, we just failed to manage the scoreboard as well as Fiji did. I really dislike ingracious winners, especially when that win was hardly overwhelming. The fact that we did lose, was as much down to our own poor play (especially in the first half) as it was to Fiji's great get up and go play, which once they got going, we failed to stop. I'll be utterly amazed if South Africa don't put 50-60 points on you.
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i completely agree with what ur saying about things could have been so diff, and if we'd scrapped a win and had been heading toward south africa game everyone would be singging a diff tune......but...... top flight rugby is won and lost on narrow margins with smaller teams now competing in all aspects of game. it seems to me that in 2005 there was a def sense of increasing proffessionalism about the welsh squad with players having to compete for their places week in week out creating a real sense of hunger and competativeness. for this to happen there needs to be a ready source of fit and in form players which the welsh reigions are not currently producing.
the WRU should use this current call for change to perhaps expand the professional game further west of llanelli, and further north of merthyr do u not think ??? my own club at home have won national division three several times but have been denied promotion on the basis that the southern teams will not travel north even for one game a season! the WRU is currently overlooking three quarters of their (small) country and wonder why they are having difficulty producing significant numbers of top flight athletes. it doesnt take a genius !
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You are only as good as the opposition you play against and I'm sorry to say all of the 6 Nations sides have been outclassed and outplayed by the Southern Hemisphere, it will be NZ, Australia, SA and Argentina in the semis.
I think the perfromances of the Pacific Nations have been refreshing for rugby and I for one hope they get the support of the rugby world to develop their players and not lose them to NZ and Australia. You will then have a far more competitive tournament!
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Wales have some truly world class players in their side but have failed to make the knockout stages, whilst Scotland, with far, far fewer individual talents have made the QFs from a qualifying pool that was no less tough than Oz/Fiji etc.
Surely the coaching and backroom set up (ie - a straightforward team management issue as per the IRFU....) can only be to blame?
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'Tom Go Wallabies' - are you some sort of idiot? You obviously haven't read any of the comments from Welsh fans (many Welsh fans) congratualating Fiji on a well earned victory. Your rant is totally unwarranted.
Form in the group before the match pointed to a Welsh victory - Fiji barely beat Japan (holding out for a 4pt win after 5mins of constant pressure at the end of the game); scored a bonus point try in the last minute, when it looked like Canada were about to snatch a dramatic victory - and both teams had been well seen off by Wales. In the match itself, Wales scored 5 tries to 4, and hit the woodwork 3 times, and missed a penalty in front of the posts. So, the better team in my opinion, DIDN'T win, we just failed to manage the scoreboard as well as Fiji did. I really dislike ingracious winners, especially when that win was hardly overwhelming. The fact that we did lose, was as much down to our own poor play (especially in the first half) as it was to Fiji's great get up and go play, which once they got going, we failed to stop. I'll be utterly amazed if South Africa don't put 50-60 points on them.
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I hope the new coach doesn't listen to too much whining about player power. It seems we are all for player power when we're winning but don't want any of it when we lose.
From the ´óÏó´«Ã½ web site:
2007 :
Ex-captain Ieuan Evans says headstrong players and Welsh Rugby Union weakness contributed to Wales' World Cup exit and coach Gareth Jenkins' downfall.
"Jenkins made mistakes and allowed discipline to slip in the squad," Evans told ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales' Scrum V rugby show.
"There's a culture of complacency, the players having an undue influence, the new coach must address the problems
2006 :
Wales and Lions legend Ieuan Evans has praised the contribution of Ruddock during his time at the helm.
"He has empowered the players, which is a big step - the foundation was laid by Steve Hansen to get the basics right, but Mike Ruddock has given them the freedom to express themselves," Evans told ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport.
As a team grows in experience, players need to give their input and be listened to. Our new coach should be somebody who knows how to harness player power to get the most out of it without being led by it - just as any manager needs to take into consideration the views of the team he leads.
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In reference to post 12; I understand your bitter disappointment, but don't be upset by team banter and bonding. Your use of NZ as an example is flawed after seeing various All Blacks photographed in public in wearing face masks/socks.
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I thought, from the beginning of GJ's tenure as Coach, that he had surrounded himself with a poor quality Coaching Team. They were all, without exception, merely Club-standard coaches, with alsolutely no experience at a higher level. His choice apparently. Some were not even very experienced at a Club level.
GJ aspired to the Wales Coaching job, but to form a back-up team with such inexperience was in itself foolish.
Hopefully, they will all go too, and we can make (another) fresh start. Then, even if we fail initially and mid-term (which we probably will), let's hope that the Coach gets a longer period this time to work things out and to get some (winning)momentum into the squad.
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Hahahahahaha... England sends its regards to the Welsh.... NOT. Sorry just taking a second to enjoy the incredible failure that was the Welsh Rugby World Cup campaign. Fiji are now my 2nd favourite team in the world!
What did you expect??? Do we EVER hear any nice words from the Welsh?!
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I thought, from the beginning of GJ's tenure as Coach, that he had surrounded himself with a poor quality Coaching Team. They were all, without exception, merely Club-standard coaches, with alsolutely no experience at a higher level. His choice apparently.
Some were not even very experienced at a Club level. GJ aspired to the Wales Coaching job, but to form a back-up team with such inexperience was in itself foolish.
Hopefully, they will all go too, and we can make (another) fresh start. Then, even if we fail initially and mid-term (which we probably will), let's hope that the Coach gets a longer period this time to work things out and to get some (winning)momentum into the squad.
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I thought, from the beginning of GJ's tenure as Coach, that he had surrounded himself with a poor quality Coaching Team. They were all, without exception, merely Club-standard coaches, with alsolutely no experience at a higher level. His choice apparently. Some were not even very experienced at a Club level.
GJ aspired to the Wales Coaching job, but to form a back-up team with such inexperience was in itself foolish.
Hopefully, they will all go too, and we can make (another) fresh start. Then, even if we fail initially and mid-term (which we probably will), let's hope that the Coach gets a longer period this time to work things out and to get some (winning)momentum into the squad.
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I thought, from the beginning of GJ's tenure as Coach, that he had surrounded himself with a poor quality Coaching Team. They were all, without exception, merely Club-standard coaches, with alsolutely no experience at a higher level. His choice apparently. Some were not even very experienced at a Club level.
GJ aspired to the Wales Coaching job, but to form a back-up team with such inexperience was in itself foolish.
Hopefully, they will all go too, and we can make (another) fresh start. Then, even if we fail initially and mid-term (which we probably will), let's hope that the Coach gets a longer period this time to work things out and to get some (winning)momentum into the squad.
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The biggest disappointment for Welsh fans is that we have no National interest in the RWC this week.
Most people would have never expected us to get past South Africa but with the players/resources at our disposal we should have beaten Fiji.
Maybe bring in performance related pay for all involved?
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The biggest disappointment for Welsh fans is that we have no National interest in the RWC this week.
Most people would have never expected us to get past South Africa but with the players/resources at our disposal we should have beaten Fiji.
Maybe bring in performance related pay for all involved?
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Stop complaining everyone,
a better team one. Wales played awful.
Fiji had a better game plan and were far superior in the backs. Wales forgot to realize that the Fijian offence is the BEST in the world. One mistake and you are done. I am now a true Fiji fan.
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Like Tim Lawrence, I would echo his suprise that no comment was made at the time that the TV ref had awarded the final Fijian try against Wales when 'he couldn't possibly have seen the ball grounded'.
Normally, I take the charitable view that if a player gets that near to the try line then he probably deserves the score - but in this case, and with so much riding on the decision, perhaps the law should have been followed more vigorously.
The players themselves probably know the truth and no doubt this will come out in time - otherwise, like the Bob Deans disputed try saga of 1905, this could run and run.
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I feel Gareth Jenkins paid the penalty for being niave and not taking control of team, there were rumours of "a drink culture" fostered by the management. He brought with him equally limited coaches and a "manager" in Philips who only manages to survive the regular cullings.
I also believe that sadly many of the welsh team are lacking the inteligence to change tack when preset plans are not working. Nobody can deny that in Gareth Thomas we had an insperational leader but a bright tactian I think not. Shanklin who i rate as one of the best centres in the game blew a golden chance in the first 10mins which would have settle our nerves and started a flowing process.However, water under the bridge now.
I guess if you look at the performances of our under 21/19 teams we have something to look forward to, provided they are properly managed/coached. We would also undoubtedly benefit from a complete shake up on our whole set up, bringing professional business people to run the WRu (a la Moffit) and not a bunch of limited ex-players.
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Ref: Tim Lawrence, Alan Jones#73 that the ball was not grounded.
The ball was grounded guys....this was even admitted by Gareth Thomas who was asked if it was a fair try.
Hope that eases the pain.
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Its sad to see many Welsh fans blaming the referee. The ref did a great job. Just look at the match, Wales scored two tries when Fiji was down to 14 players, so Wales never was the better team. One try was an intercept, just an oppotunistic try.
About the last try that sealed the win for Fiji, use your common sense guys. First you blame the ref, then you blame the TMO for awardging that try. It was a try, the ball wasn't knocked on or anything, the ball was properly grounded. Stop crying and accept defeat like true sportmen. If Fiji had 15 men all throughout the game, Wales would have got a hidng for sure.
Have you guys forgotten past world cups where Fiji lost to France and again one where Fiji lost to England because of the referee's bias. Fiji deserved to win, be humble and accept defeat with dignity.
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To Comment 50 I'd like to thank u for predicting that the Wallabies will go through to the Finals. It's good to have more support from outsiders! Just remember who is in the final 8 and who isn't buddy.
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Get used to the loss Welshmen,in a game of real rugby,you get knocked, kicked, stomped on.etc. You dish some, you get some. Its long overdue that you realise that you lost to a great, fast and awesome team - the Flying Fijians. Let's get real and admit defeat
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Only a handful of welsh supporters are blaming the referee. Ok there were some questionable decisions, but that has been true of every match I've seen in this WC. And due credit has been given to Fiji, they created a fantastic game. However Welsh people are rightly wondering why our team, ranked above Fiji (and Canada and Japan for that matter) and dominant at the set piece could not turn these advantages into convincing wins. And talking about how good the opposition were is not going to answer any of these questions. If everyone started saying how good Fiji were, you bashers would criticise them for avoiding the issue of Wales' own poor performance. Wales HAS admitted defeat, so first comes the introspection and then comes the future. I guess some people just enjoy kicking others when they're down.
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A great piece Ryan, really sums up the mood of Wales at this time. I agree whole heartedly with your sentiments about the present state of Wales and the game. There are no prouder Welshmen than me, and I am probably not the only one who had a sleepless night on Saturday. Rugby is a religion in Wales that is part of the everyday fabric of peoples lives and it hurts so much when we underperform. It would be easier to take if we were simply rubbish, but we have so many great players, (including yourself Ryan, who I consider to be one of the best young forwards in the world) many of which won the Grand Slam for us in 2005. This begs the question - good players and teams do not go bad overnight, so how can the same players who played sublime rugby in 2005 be underperforming so much? I do not blame the players, although I do believe they need more confidence to regain that killer instinct. What we need now is reflection and a thorough search for a coach that can restore pride in the red jersey. The personal attacks on Jenkins are out of order, he was just not the right man for the job. I would love to see Ruddock come back, but only the players, Ruddock and WRU really know what happened there to poison the relationship, despite the roumur mill turning.... Wales have always loved an open game, we need to restore that element, with a little structure (but not too much), intelligence on the field, new leadership and confidence in our own abilities. We don't have the physical presence to deal with the Southern Hemisphere sides, yet we do have the ball handling skills to beat these sides and we need to restore some 'nouse' to the game. This is not panic stations, we are not in the 80' and early 90's. We have a good structure in Wales, great talent coming through, strength in depth (world class strength in depth in some areas ie scrum half, fly half, forwards..) and now we need some serious leadership from the WRU. There should only be one agenda at the WRU - making Wales a success and maintaining it. Hicksy
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Excellent post by Brian (no. 53) who made some really good points. It was a game that Wales should have won.
I have also noticed that the referees are not clamping down on the illegal late and high tackles from some of the south sea island teams. I hope that this perceived leniency is not a directive from the governing body.
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