The end of an AWEra

By DC

To quote that old Dean Martin, 'the weather outside is frightful' ... in fact let's start again ... the weather outside has put the kibosh on most of the rugby matches this weekend. Cancelations mean two important things – no entertainment with the oval ball this weekend, so we might have to turn to the dark side and watch the evil round ball, but more importantly it means that both we and the bookies have no opportunity to make some profit.

I spent the beginning of the week, researching and preparing for some very interesting Magners League clashes – I came across a few interesting articles, none more so than one following an interview with Dragon’s Head Coach Paul Turner. It got my brain ticking over and inspiration took me; in fact the whole office started to smell like burnt rubber.

The article drew attention to the infamous “Welsh outside-half factory”, the stuff of myth and legend the mocking tale of how the entire of England used to look on in awe and jealousy at the stream of breath taking world leading outside halves that flowed out of Wales for so long. It started the brain firing on all cylinders and lead me to one statement one conclusion . . . . . someone bought the factory, boarded it up and drove it over the Severn Bridge, it has been relocated to England – the tables have turned, there is a new reason that the valleys are green and it’s called envy.

England have Jonny, he’s back, he’s fit and on his day he is a class act – he might be older and somewhat slower but no one can ever write him off. Jonny is a game winner and life changer, the kind of player any coach would want to have in his side. With the closing of the year many pundits and critics attempted to create the greatest team of the professional era and Jonny’s name was everywhere. He exploded on the scene and set his standard high, had it not been for what seemed like more injuries than at Roukes Drift, God only knows what Jonny and England could have produced.

But the outside half factory is not about one player it is about options and choice, it’s about the future player to come and the crowds to be entertained. Take a step back, and regardless of your nationality you have to agree that England have both options and possibilities now and in the future. Forget about current injuries; just think about the string of outside halves that could be considered for the 10 shirt for the Red Rose:

Toby Flood – he may have the face of Mr Potato Head but he has the hands of a surgeon and the vision of a Sparrow Hawk,

Danny Cipriani – the forgotten man, possibly due to his current form, but more likely due to his boy band life style and the current management’s “stupidity glasses”. Cipriani is genuine class – he has pace, strength and ability, he might be lacking on the defensive front but he more than makes up for it with his attacking lines and game changing breaks.

Charlie Hodgson – he maybe old, he may be slow, he may look like Dan Akroyd but he can control the game and do more than a job in the pivot role.

Sam Vesty – forth generation Leicester Tiger, the man has stripes running through his very soul, he has a great pace and has a hunger for a line break, add to that a great kicking game and you have a player that has a more than enough ability to make it.

Olly Barkley – stop laughing I am serious, Barkley is versatile, imaginative and dangerous he can change a game in a split second and boss it for 80 minutes – what more do you need in an outside half?

Ryan Davies – the young Bath player may have the kicking accuracy of a broken watering can but accuracy can be learned – he has the basics and he has the attitude – it’s the attitude that is important.

Shane Geraghty – despite what big Martin may think, Geraghty is a 10 and a stunning one at that. He has the whole package vision, pace, imagination, attitude and leadership. Watching Geraghty play is like watching the Mona Lisa dry it’s great now but it’s going to keep getting better and better.

Stephen Myler – Geraghty’s understudy, he cut his teeth playing the evil side of rugby .... LEAGUE, but he has made the change and brought bravery and experience to his union game. He has been waiting in the wings and now is ready to take flight.

Andy Goode – ok not a young whipper snapper and he has the body of a Big Mac wearing a bad wig – but he can move the chains keeping the ball in front of the forwards and keep the game ticking over. There is always room in rugby for players like this – ask Ireland and ROG.

Ryan Lamb – the baby faced assassin! Still not even 25 and he has everything that a good game controller needs. I love watching him play he has lost his youthful arrogance and replaced it with an experienced swagger.

Rory Clegg – German born and Newcastle raised. Only 21 and eager to please – a great combination in a redhead!!

These players may not all be world class but each and every one is capable of winning games and breaking supporters hearts. They may not be all ready to take on the world, some of them may never be ever ready for that, but each and every one of them is more than capable of doing a job. Even this little snapshot, this choice few shows clearly that England have depth and options. Personally I would welcome anyone of them into the starting line up of my side.

Ok the bus is about to leave, come on everyone get on board we are going for a little ride over the Bridge into Wales to see what they have to offer – to find out if the myth of the outside half factory is still alive. But before we start looking at the current players that are out there lets cast our minds back, back in time, and as the mist clears we will see standing there legends, giants among men. Dancing, prancing entertainers than could hold the world in their hands and our hearts and breaths in a single side step or burst of genius. The history of Welsh rugby and the mythical 10 shirt have a close almost unhealthy relationship; no Welsh boy grows up wanting to be anything more than an outside half in a three feathers shirt.

A quality pivot should play rugby with pride and passion, imagination and flair – they should play rugby in what for years has been considered the “Welsh way”.

A quality 10 should be all about the little man ruling the roost, he should have the strut of a peacock, the movement of a gogo dancer on a spinning wheel, the leadership of Leonidas, the bravery of a gladiator and an genetic need, craving to entertain, to please the crowd and most of all to WIN.

Over the last God knows how many years Wales has produced some simply stunning 10s, players that belong in the halls of history, players that belong somewhere in the top 10 greatest pivots ever to play the game. Players like “the King” Barry John, the dual code genius of Jiffy Davies, the pale faced genius and brilliance of Phil Bennett, the street fighter- the player from the coal face Cliff Morgan, the little capped but much loved Carwyn James, the only player to have captained the British and Irish Lions and the Great British Rugby League side David Watkins. I am not forgetting the points machine Neil Jenkins – Jenkins may not have been the dancing super star but a product of that Max Boyce inspired Outside Half Factory – Jenkins amassed almost 1400 points in his rugby career – for club, country and Lions, that kind of record can never be forgotten.

That brings us up to the present day, and it’s here that the problems are starting to become clear. What do Wales have to offer, what player does Wales have to join the legends of the past, when our children look back what faces will they see in the clearing mists of time? Who will be the players that inspire, who are the players that children in the street pretend to be when they meet on the playing fields, who will be the players that they aspire to be as they slide into the corner to score the winning try and then kick the final points in between the jumpers for goal posts?

Stephen Jones – the count, Mr Consistency in Welsh rugby over the past 10 years. He made his debut back in 1998 and since then has been ever present amassing over 700 points, playing over 80 games, winning 2 Grand Slams, and touring with 2 Lions parties. For all those people who were wondering who made it into my team of the decade – look no further – Ladies and Gentlemen I give you Stephen Jones. Jones may not be a dancing 10, he may not have the flair and dazzle of some of the greats – but do not be mistaken when the outside half factory made Jones they broke the mould. He is a talisman, an enigma – the man you could bet your house on, a man that gives everything and leaves nothing.

James Hook – I was told a few months ago that I did not understand what it takes to be an outhalf because I have never played there. Well I am a Welshman and I have played there on the perfect green grass in my dreams and I know an outhalf when I see one – sorry James 10 is not your number. A pivot needs to control the game, be able to take responsibility, make the choices and change a game. When Hook steps on to the field in the 10 shirt he tries too hard, he takes everything on himself. He seems to be a player fighting against his own high expectations. He needs to play at inside centre, where he can have time away from the congestion of the game, a place where he has time and space to let his natural game flow. I am not a believer in the new modern 12, I think inside centres should be able to kick and pass with the fluency of a 10, a 12 should be pure imagination and everything that is great in attack should come from his shoulders. I hate the new approach to inside centres – big smashing runners that approach the game with all the finesse of a mouse giving birth to a watermelon. Hook could be one of these great 12s, but he is not a 10 – he is not a product of the outside half factory.

Ceri “Truckhead” Sweeney – currently battling it out at the Blues for the worst 10 shirt – Sweeney has been around for years and looks like it too. He lacks pace, a simple pass and direction and distance in his kick. I was present at a game a few years ago at the Dragons, when the home team won a penalty 15 yards out and directly in front of the posts and a voice from the crowd came loud and clear “ for Chr!st sake Ref send Sweeney off before he gets a chance to kick it!” Just because you have been around forever does not mean you are any good at something. Rather than being like a fine wine that matures with age, Sweeney is like a Dairylea slice the older it gets the more it stinks.

Rhys Priestland – Stephen Jones’ understudy, it’s hard to live in the shadow of a modern legend – he has been shifted to full back in an attempt to learn his skills and grow his game. It’s a shame that he lacks the commitment, attitude and ability of his teacher – it will snow Scarlet snow in June in Llanelli the day this student becomes the master.

Ceiron Thomas – another player that lived in the shadow of Stephen Jones – so much so that he escaped over the border and made a break for Leeds – he went to fine tune his craft. For some reason every time I see Thomas I think of that guy from Castaway, not Tom Hanks but the other guy Wilson – he’s round, full of hot air and has no hands.

Dai Flanagan – a player that started with a bang but has tailed off into a whimper – Dai Young the Blues head coach promised the entire of Wales that Flanagan was going to be the future, so much so that he rushed out and sided Ceri Sweeny and an Australian that has played at 10 about as often as I have ended a Saturday night sober. Why oh why, if he has an “old head on young shoulders” is he left out in the cold to carry the kit bags?

Jason Tovey – A player with so much talent and ability yet is still a third choice pivot behind a Kiwi born Japanese International and Shaun Connor – a player so old that if you read the original version of the bible it clearly says in the beginning God said (to Shaun) let there be light. If Wales are going to get the production belt of the Legendary factory rolling again then they need to stop playing players out of position – how do you learn to be a pivot playing at fullback? How do you learn the finer parts of the best and most important position on the paddock by not playing there? It’s like saying the best way to learn to cook is to wear a hat – there is no link at all.

Dan Biggar –in the rapidly approaching darkness of little hope there is one player, one man ... sorry one young man that could be the next big thing. Biggar plays rugby in a way that makes the legends of the past fill their chests with pride. He bosses the game and shows a level of maturity that defies his age. He is not scared by the pressure of decision making and not fazed by screaming orders at players ten times his size. Biggar has everything to make him the real deal however there is a problem with this – the man, the 10 to replace Stephen Jones should earn the shirt not gain it by default.

That’s the problem Wales have there is only one natural replacement to Stephen Jones, competition for the shirt leads to better players – a single option means only one thing – a player playing the game with one attitude – “who else you gonna pick?”. The outside half factory has stopped producing legends the conveyor belt has not just shuddered to a halt it has snapped and flown off its guide wheels. I am not sure of what the answer is, possibly a return to the old club games of years ago could be the solution. However that is not what this article is about, it’s about the plain and simple fact – the outside half factory has closed its doors, that is clear to see. As a proud Welshman, it is a scary thought – a future that lacks the Welsh way, that lacks a player that children will look up too and pretend to be. Wales are on the brink of an abyss, an abyss that lacks a guiding light – a player to lead a nation that has a proud history. Yet again Wales has fallen victim to the credit crunch, yet another factory has closed its doors – and the closure of this factory will have an impact that will be felt for decades.

DC