Posted by It’s possible to make a lot of comparisons between the Cymru senior men’s national team and their equivalents across rugby and other sports currently, but none come out particularly favourably.
Watching New Zealand v England just prior to Warren Gatland’s side facing Australia one is struck by the pace of the game and the confidence of the players to express themselves, then seeing South Africa meet Ireland later on Saturday the skill level in the face of such massive physicality levels is jaw dropping.
Even looking to the football Euros and seeing England produce intensely boring performances they still manage to find a way to win. Yet Cymru are the worst of both worlds; dull and losing.
Saturday in Sydney should have been the chance for a do-over. Put the Six Nations behind us, gloss over the somewhat meaningless test against the Springboks at Twickenham, and put on a performance against an Australian team that draws more than a few comparisons to this Welsh team; new coaching staff, mass overhaul of the playing squad, a backdrop of a tough financial situation.
Yet everything the men-in-red did was uninspiring. Kick-heavy without ever looking like taking advantage of opportunities in transition, one-out runners in an insipid attack that rarely threatened to get over the gain line let along break the line, a lineout that started safe and got progressively safer, and a defence that simply could not force a turnover without committing an offence.
Admittedly, the fussy nature of the refereeing did not help Cymru or the game as a whole, but it was the same for both teams as the visitors were pinged repeatedly during the first half. That ability to recognise and react to refereeing interpretations is something that the players need to develop in conjunction with the coaches getting messages on to the field.
Individually there are players attempting to impress; Archie Griffin was solid at the scrum and put in a huge shift in open play to make 26 tackles, Christ Tshiunza put in his best showing yet in a red jersey as he adapts to his bigger frame at lock, Aaron Wainwright was simply talismanic at 8 and Ellis Bevan controlled proceedings well again from scrum-half.
Other players did their jobs well too, but the frustration is that none of the Welshmen feel as if they are being given an opportunity to express their true selves on the field.
After chat pre-tour around going back to basics with the attack, Gatland then selected a Cardiff 9, 10 and 12, with 10 and 12 playing a position inside where they are used to, and played a direct game plan that doesn’t suit any of them. More confusingly again we saw Mason Grady wearing 12 but in an attempt to get him into wider channels he was effectively removed from the attack altogether.
In the forwards the likes of Tshiunza, Wainwright and Plumtree tend to prosper in the wider channels with ball-in-hand but, like the pack as a whole, were shepherded into central areas to truck the ball up unsuccessfully before kick chasing, and the level of over-coaching appeared to take its toll on the handling skills of players thinking more about where they needed to be than what they were doing.
Ultimately we are still in transition, with the added pile of injuries and unavailability on top of that, with a lot of fresh faces and new combinations on the field. Yet there is this nagging feeling that the young stars are not transitioning into quality test level players, but that Gatland is attempting to turn them into the robots that he favours in a more restrictive style of play.
It’s almost cult-esque. Gone are the smiling happy-go-lucky lads that we’ve seen plying their trade at particularly Cardiff & Ospreys, or outside of the country, this season. Replaced by stony faced cult members who have been beasted to within an inch of their life at training and now must carry straight and hard, tackle straight and hard, kick chase straight and hard.
There’s nothing enjoyable or redeeming about watching Cymru currently. It’s become a chore to even grasp on to any positives that may present themselves over the course of games. Desperately wading through hours of bizarre game plans and an over-obsession with certain areas of the game to cling on to chinks of light in the dark.
Saturday’s team selection once more offers hope; with James Botham replacing the injured Aaron Wainwright in the back row as Taine Plumtree switches to 8 and Cam Winnett returns to full-back as Liam Williams shifts to the wing with Josh Hathaway also ruled out. The centres are listed with Grady at 12 and Owen Watkin at 13, but could well spend large parts of proceedings switched to their more natural positions again.
It’s dynamic and exciting on paper, but the fear is that it will be stunted and confused in reality as Gatland attempts to impress his basic and restricted ideals upon the players.
At this point it’s difficult to see what Cymru are building into or towards. Pressure grows on the Head Coach and the WRU, and if the second test results in another loss it’s difficult to see where a win comes from with three tough fixtures during the Autumn possibly leading to a calendar year of test losses. It’s not quite now or never for the men-in-red, or more specifically the New Zealander cult leader, but it’s not far off.
Cardiff Rugby Life 