Advertisement
Arundell (7', 18', 35'), Earl (23'), Roebuck (44'), Penalty Try (67'), Freeman (79')
Tries
Adams (51')
Ford (8', 24', 36', 45')
Conversions
Edwards (52')
Ford (2')
Penalties
Saturday’s game against England represented tremendous progress for Wales. They conceded just 48 appoints away from home despite twice being reduced to 13 men - that’s 29% fewer than last year and fewer than any of their games against New Zealand, Argentina or South Africa at home in November. Meanwhile, they bested England in several key statistics such as tackle turnovers (2 to 1), tackle percentage (87% and 86%) and percentage of rucks under 3 seconds (44% to 41%). Furthermore, a resilient 2nd half performance showcased the character and belief in the side. Clearly, Steve Tandy has this team on the right track.
Sorry, erm… that was all bollocks, wasn’t it? What I’ve done there is ignore several vital pieces of information, manipulated data and massively over-hyped mediocrity. And that, ladies & gentlemen, is how Wales got into the mess in the first place.
The broader narratives of Welsh rugby, the off-field issues in the boardroom, have saved players and coaches from genuine scrutiny. That’s understandable, given just how huge the off-field issues are, but that doesn’t mean we should protect people who are doing a bad job. We must remember that these current coaches were appointed by the same people who are public enemy #1 for every other decision they’ve made recently - why is this the 1 area where scrutiny is forbidden?
To be fair to him, captain Dewi Lake refused to use the turmoil as an excuse for the performance on Saturday, so why should anyone else be any different? For heaven’s sake, in the November people were telling us this team had made progress because they scored 4 tries against one of the weakest All Blacks teams any of us have seen (literally, it was their coach’s last game before he was sacked). Wales have averaged 50 points conceded in their 5 games under Tandy so far - isn’t he supposed to be a defensive mastermind? And what of Matt Sherratt, who clearly has a massive influence on team selection? 1 try in the last 2 games - surely his playbook has more in it than that?
The fact is that what we saw in the first 40 minutes from Wales at Twickenham was one of, if not the worst half of rugby ever played by a Six Nations team. How can anyone argue Tandy & Co have prepared this team well, or as well as anyone else would? We’ve been told multiple times over the last 7 days that the players love Tandy’s methods. Sam Warburton (who you may remember from such Times columns as ‘I went on the BBC demanding a region be shut down but now I’m not sure’ and ‘I didn’t know that the club I am on the board of was going into administration’) said that he had been in camp and would now run through walls for this coach. One can only assume that’s because he lets everyone skive off from training and drink lattes instead.
In that first half, nothing was good about them; not one thing. Double figure penalties, shambolic line-outs, crumbling scrums, limp tackling, 2 yellow cards and FORGETTING TO TAP THE BLOODY BALL. The only thing more surprising that Wales’ complete ineptitude at the most functional level was that England only scored 29 points (one of them a freebie from a misplaced Wales pass). Speaking of cards: 10 yellows and a red in the 5 games since Tandy took over - what does that say about how he prepares them?
It would be very easy to list the players who played terribly against England. Actually, it’s probably quicker to list the ones who didn’t: Josh MacLeod gave it everything until his baffling substitution on 52 minutes, although his replacement Harri Deaves did play with extraordinary energy and endeavour when he came on. Aaron Wainwright did what always does (in a good way), Tomos Williams did what he could, Eddie James turned a few lemons into lemonade, Josh Adams refused to take it lying down and Louis Rees-Zammit, a couple of dropped balls aside, proved yet again he is by far Wales’ most dangerous attacker.
But, honestly, we really are in ‘not absolutely awful’ territory here rather than actually ‘good’. And yet, despite Wales putting in one of the worst halves of rugby in living memory, no substitutions were made at half time. The first changes were not made until the 50th minute and 3 of the 8 subs were not used until well beyond the 65h minute. What are we to infer from this? That there is no consequence for failure, or that the coaches believe the players on the bench are even worse than the ones on the field?
For too long, players’ inclusion in the Wales team have been justified for weak reasons that do not stand up to any scrutiny. ‘He is a defensive leader’, ‘he does a lot of unseen work’, ‘he hits a lot of rucks’, ‘he makes the lineout function’. All contortions of logic that were never backed up by either stats or by the eye test. Heaven forbid that Wales select a prop who can tackle and scrummage, or a second row who can call a lineout and carry, or a centre who can defend and attack.
Which brings us to the fulcrum of the team: the 10/12 axis of Dan Edwards and Ben Thomas. Both of these players have plenty of positives when it comes to ball in hand attack, both of these players have serious question marks over their defence. However, their biggest problem is that, as a partnership, there is absolutely zero chemistry between them whatsoever. Perhaps Edwards put regular milk instead of oat milk in Thomas’ latte on day 1 and it’s been down hill from there, who knows, but there is no evidence these two have ever had a so much as a conversation about how they want to work together on the pitch. To be fair, it’s almost irrelevant anyway as Wales primarily attack off 9 with precious little width or shape (as shown by them making just 89 passes but 88 carries) but that just makes it all the more baffling the coaches are persisting with this dysfunctional selection.
Most galling of all, however, is that over the past 2 years or so there has been the odd player who has shown spark, who has shown fight, who refused to hide on the pitch and go out with a whimper. Where are they now? They were thrown under the bus long ago. They put their heads above the parapet and they were duly shot at. The culture in Welsh Rugby is one where it is better for coaches and players to be anonymous than defiant, better to promise nothing and deliver than to be bold and fall short.
Less than 24 hours after Wales’ latest humiliation, there were already articles circulating that absolved players and coaches of blame; that told fans they were wrong to criticise and scrutinise. ‘Shrug you shoulders and accept it’ is the message. I say different: be angry, ask questions, demand better. Don’t let the bastards grind you down.
