Posted by Cymru’s Summer Internationals got underway in inauspicious circumstances on Saturday as Warren Gatland’s side fell to a second successive heavy defeat to South Africa, this time at Twickenham.
Ahead of the game many questioned the reasoning for accepting the fixture from a rugby perspective with it coming outside of the international window, on the same day as the United Rugby Championship final, and ahead of a three-game tour of Australia at the end of a long season that encompassed over 12 months of training and a Rugby World Cup.
Of course the Welsh Rugby Union likely just saw the pound signs flashing in their eyes thanks to a fee from the South African Rugby Union and a split of the ticket sales, but there was a vague rugby hope that some of the players who impressed for the Welsh clubs last season would get the opportunity to have a run out at test level in a no-pressure game.
Unfortunately that was largely kiboshed by the squad selection, as Gatland passed over the likes of Nicky Smith, Liam Belcher, Tom Botha, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Will Reed and Johnny Williams, only called James Botham and James Ratti in late-on, and either injured or pissed off Sam Parry, Elliot Dee and Jac Morgan.
Some did make it through the cracks with Ben Carter and Taine Plumtree getting the nod in the pack and Ellis Bevan making his debut at scrum-half. Together with Kemsley Mathias, Eddie James and Jacob Beetham off the bench none of them looked out of place at the top level, but frustratingly were not fully given the license to express themselves in what was essentially a hiding to nothing.
Even without their players in the Bulls squad and playing club rugby in Europe, the Springboks brought a fiercely competitive team. 10 of the 23 were involved in the Rugby World Cup Final at the start of the season, with only four debutants in a side that was obviously physically imposing and possessed plenty of x factor.
There was no expectation on the Cymru team heading into the game, so the hope was that the shackles would be off. A mobile and skilful back row could stretch the game, Bevan could challenge the fringes, Sam Costelow could use an attacking kicking game and roam from first receiver in possession, and the centre of Mason Grady and Owen Watkin could mix-and-match at 12 and 13.
Unfortunately what transpired was an unimaginative and restrictive attacking game plan that largely revolved around Grady trucking the ball up from inside centre as a starter play, the forwards coming around the corner to be pummelled back for between one and three phases, and then reverting to a tactical kicking game.
That kicking plan worked well in the first half, with Liam Williams in particular causing Makazole Mapimpi issues in the air on his return to the test arena, but two half chances to score went begging as offloads did not go to hand, and in truth Cymru’s only score came on the back of a calamitous South African mix up at the lineout that allowed the incredibly impressive Dewi Lake to score opportunistically.
Ultimately, after a bit of a regroup at the break, the Springboks put their foot to the floor and found their clinical edge to win the second half 27-0. A sobering reminder of just how much development some of these young players need to do in order to be competitive, and raising questions again around if this coaching staff are the right group to aid that.
There were elements to like about the team performance. The effort and fight from the players as a base requirement, the lineout was a lot better than seen during the Six Nations, and in defensive phase play there was generally enough about the shape and line speed to keep the “home” side at arms length.
However, a major focus for Gatland & co has to be on transition work, both ways. When we secure turnover ball we continue to look like rabbits in the headlights, failing to put any structure into an unstructured period of play and relying on individual brilliance to create something from nothing. With the talent we have we should be a much more effective counter-attacking side.
Then on Saturday the huge issue for Cymru was when transitioning into defence post-kick. Of the three tries South Africa scored in open play, two were within three phases of a Welsh kick as the men in red failed to get into their defensive positioning early enough and the opposition either easily found the edge to break down, or simply sliced through the middle of a disorganised line.
Looking ahead the next few weeks sees Gatland’s side head Down Under to meet a Wallabies team undergoing a huge evolution of their own. Joe Schmidt has come in as Head Coach at a time when players are leaving Australia and the game altogether, leading to a squad packed with new faces and combinations for two tests next month.
Winning is a more than achievable aim for Cymru, who will welcome players based outside the country into the fold as the official international window gets underway, but they will need to clean up a lot of areas of their game if they’re going to turn exciting youngsters producing solid individual displays into a team capable of winning test matches.
Cardiff Rugby Life 