Posted by There’s a familiar theme developing around this Guinness Six Nations campaign, for both Cymru’s senior men and U20 men, that should represent a concern for all involved with Welsh rugby, and should have been addressed by the Welsh Rugby Union a decade ago.
For certainly the second, and arguably the third, week in a row, Warren Gatland and Richard Whiffin’s men have both fallen to defeats after being physically dominated by their opponents from England, Ireland and now France.
It’s a trend that we’ve seen at the U20 level for a few years now, but as the senior team go through an evolution of the playing squad and a number of youngsters are exposed to the top level perhaps a year or two earlier than is ideal, it has crept into the main event of Six Nations weekends too.
Now there are two things to say partially in mitigation, and partially in terms of looking for positives. Firstly, there are a lot of players missing from particularly the pack that would assist in the physical battle; Dewi Lake, Tomas Francis, Christ Tshiunza, Taine Plumtree, Jac Morgan, Morgan Morris and Taulupe Faletau, and that’s a non-exhaustive list.
And secondly, there’s been a lot to like from a playing structure and skillset perspective, especially against France at the Principality Stadium on Sunday where the attack looked far better than it did earlier in the Championship.
The introduction of greater variation off first receiver, the freedom of Tomos Williams to roam from the base and Sam Costelow to get into the wider channels, the link play of Owen Watkin, and the desire of both wingers to look for the ball off their wings resulted in a much more fluid and dangerous attack which caused Les Bleus problems for the first 45 minutes of the game.
With the lineout functioning to a good level, the defence holding it’s shape and even the scrum coping fairly well considering the lack of parity up front, there’s no lack of desire and certainly no lack of skill level in Wales. Looking at some of the play we’ve seen from the U20s you could even argue that on a purely skill level we are ahead of some of our Irish, English and French counterparts.
Unfortunately we simply cannot compete with the power, or more specifically the depth of power, that these opposition bring.
France are able to bring on the likes of Peato Mauvaka, Georges-Henri Colombe and the Taofifenua brothers, all players who would start for Warren Gatland without question, to bolster their ranks as the opposition get tired, while their U20s are able to call on forwards who are making appearances for the likes of Clermont, Bordeaux and La Rochelle in the Top14.
When we go up against England and Ireland we’re facing teams full of players who have come through private school systems from the age of 11, 12 or 13. They’ve been exposed to professional Academy levels of strength & conditioning and nutrition alongside their rugby training on close to a daily basis for at least three years before young players in Wales are seeing the same at 15 or 16.
Now there’s socio-economic reasons why Wales can’t recreate that sort of setup in this country, but can the WRU drive some sort of programme with the likes of Monmouth School, the Cathedral School, Christ College Brecon and Llandovery College? Or perhaps more suitably, and realistically, can they commence work on regional centres of excellence with S&C and nutritional support attached?
Fiddling with the Dewar Shield and bringing in “Emerging Player Programmes”, and introducing the “Elite Development Competition” for 18-24 year-olds is all well and good, but without real investment in coaching and facilities for specifically 13-16 year-olds it’s all just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.
Getting hold of players in that stage of development and balancing their S&C progress with their rugby skills progress will produce much more well-rounded players by 18 when they are stepping up to U20s and senior semi-professional rugby, rather than what we are experiencing now where they get to 18 with a good skillset but have to lose rugby development to catch up on physical development.
It should also result in a greater depth of players with a physical edge that can allow us to compete with the likes of England, Ireland and France in that collision area.
Unfortunately the WRU has failed, consistently throughout its entire history, to display anywhere near the foresight, innovation or ambition to proactively, or even reactively, identify and rectify an area of concern such as this. Perhaps the new governance structure will result in a better output, but the early signs are not encouraging, to say the least.
Until such a time as overhauling, and properly investing in, the pathway in order to give those working within it the resources they require does take place though, I worry that certainly at U20 level it is only two wins that are possible across the Six Nations. I also worry that will creep into the national team over time until wins against the three aforementioned countries are as rare as victory over New Zealand.
It’s a somewhat sombre tone to strike at a time when I am positive about some of the talent coming into this Cymru side, which we saw glimpses of again on Sunday. Dafydd Jenkins was immense, albeit the pack balance wasn’t quite right with three locks selected, Tommy Reffell cemented his place as one of the Players of the Tournament, Sam Costelow visibly grew in confidence, while Joe Roberts was assured on his competition debut.
There may be pressure coming on the side now to see Italy as a must-win game in order to avoid finishing bottom of the table, and while the aim is of course to win every test match, I honestly don’t think it is a massive issue if Gatland’s side do prop up the Championship this year.
At some point the focus will shift from development to results, but for now the squad evolution remains the priority, and there’s no shame in losing to a much-improved Italian side. I’d like to see Alex Mann come back on to the blindside, Owen Watkin remain at 12 and Mason Grady come on to the right wing to add some size to the back line.
If we can run the more expansive attacking game for the full 80 minutes, step up the kicking and transition work, and retain our defence and set piece level, then a result can follow, but if we do that and the points don’t come then there’s still enough of an upward curve in performance over the two months to make the Six Nations a success.
Cardiff Rugby Life 