THE HAMMERING the men’s senior international team took against England last Saturday (March 15) raised familiar questions about the decline of rugby union in Wales.

Identifying the problems and their causes has become a national pastime.  

The WRU has been accused of neglecting the national team, the regions, and the community game and of not doing enough to secure the game’s future while the senior team was successful. All of those complaints have some foundation, with some better founded than others.

However, to get to the root of the issues, it is necessary to strip away some of the myths surrounding Wales’s relationship with rugby. Starting with the most straightforward one: rugby is not Wales’s national game. Far more people play football in Wales than rugby, and football clubs are distributed more evenly across the country. Even in areas of Wales that are traditionally and strongly associated with rugby union, more people play soccer than rugby.

For a nation that harps on about the past’s glories, uniquely among Tier One rugby nations, Wales has failed to tap into the knowledge base of its former top international players. Consider the great Welsh teams of the 1970s: none of them went into top-class coaching. The WRU’s approach to amateurism was partly to blame for the loss of their knowledge. Still, even when the amateur game turned professional, the number of top-ranking players taking on senior roles in coaching and player development remained small.

That is not to say that having former players coaching and developing players is the answer to Welsh rugby’s woes. The challenges run far deeper. But there is hope.

HIT AND MISS PLAYER SELECTIONS WASTE TALENT

For young players, getting on the right development pathway often has more to do with whether your face (or your parents’ faces) fits. Staying on a player development pathway with regional academies is also fraught with difficulty.

Imagine the lunacy of losing promising players because they want to pursue an academic career away from Wales or take advantage of superior coaching and facilities in England. But that’s not only happened in Wales, it’s still happening.

One promising young player from Pembrokeshire spent a long time on The Scarlets development pathway. Nobody knows whether he would’ve made it to the top level. However, the Scarlets dropped him like a hot brick as soon as he made it clear he wanted to pursue his higher education outside Wales and not attend Coleg Sir Gar. Because of the way he was treated, that young player no longer plays at any level. He fell out of love with the game he’d played since he was six or seven years old.

At a more elevated level, the player who scored Italy’s final try against Ireland in Rome last weekend hails from Pembrokeshire. Stephen Varney made a couple of outings for the Scarlets Under-16s but was not picked up for further development with the West Wales region. Whichever way you cut it, dropping a player from a regional squad who ends up with a successful international career must raise questions about the selection processes and regions’ commitment to developing local talent instead of buying it in.

THE FUTURE COULD BE BRIGHT

Not all is doom and gloom.

One coach told us that, provided the current crop of young players (16 and under) is developed, they will have every chance of becoming world-beaters.

He told us: “There are a huge number of players coming through Haverfordwest High because they have an excellent coaching team that also coaches the Scarlets. However, funding was pulled for similar roles. So, a guy from Pembroke School in a similar role was let go despite being a very recent under-20s international who also coaches the county.

“The schools have the final say on the funding, so some choose to use it elsewhere or not have rugby programmes.

“At junior level, what I’ve tried to do is get in guys who are athletically promising and transfer their talents towards rugby. That means hoovering up all the talent that doesn’t go to other clubs or who fell out somewhere else. In many ways, a band of misfits taking a second chance are easier to coach and build a team ethic among. It takes time, but they’re already physically gifted, so they need time to play as much rugby as possible.

“I see my role as developing these guys for rugby further down the line. That’s how clubs should be, but they all want to win the next game. We won’t win every game now, but next year, we might win a few more, and the next year, we might win the cup.

“Everyone wants a quick fix, though. Local clubs will try to poach your vest talent (which happens all over Wales). That means lads who aren’t physically or mentally there yet get discarded. That’s where we come in.

“Most importantly, we look at the player as a whole. We have players who come from difficult educational and family backgrounds. They deserve a chance to enjoy rugby and be as good as they can while playing it. It’s about giving players a chance.”

WHY SIZE MATTERS

Another coach told us: “We have to accept that not every good player is going to make it at the professional level, let alone the international game. However, all players must be given the chance to make the most of what they have. That means focussing on skills and fitness. You can be the fastest runner on the field, but that’s no use unless you can catch, pass, and kick. You can be a mound of muscle and strong as an ox, but scrummaging and forward play require technical ability and nous, as well as strength.

“The best players need to be big enough, fast enough, and have the physical assets that allow them to compete at the top level. If you can’t compete physically, you’re already lost. Look at the Welsh backs last weekend. I don’t doubt they’re good players. I don’t doubt their skill. But compared to the English backs, they were tiny. If you are thirteen stone and quick, you’re going to get smashed by a player who is just as quick but three stone heavier and six inches taller. You have to be a once-in-a-generation world-class player like Shane Williams to buck that reality.”

One coach told us their approach would be: “Bring back the A team. Have a head of coaching who oversees the age group, regional and possible future A team coaches. Have the same in strength and conditioning. If you’re playing professional rugby, why are you not fit enough or strong enough to play international rugby?”

They continued: “Everyone playing the pro game should be physically able to play for Wales. It’s madness that they can’t. It’s their job, for Christ’s sake!

“Wales had a guy doing that, and when we became successful, they got rid of him; that’s typically Welsh.

“In New Zealand or South Africa, every pro player can play international rugby. Why are Welsh players having to do so much extra work on their fitness and skills once selected? It’s farcical.”