What the Ruck Volume IX

By DC

Before I begin, just a brief history lesson - the State of the Union: 'an annual address that not only reports on the condition of the nation but also an occasion when an agenda and a nation’s priorities are outlined....” So I thought if it’s good enough for the burger munching, invasion monkeys the Americans then it’s good enough for DC.

Dear readers, by now you are all aware that I am a proud Welshman, a leek carrying, coal eating, daffodil wearing Welshman, at one point I was engaged to a lady called Baabra – a stunning fluffy, white cloud of a sheep, that’s how Welsh I am. I am proud of my nation and my heritage but at times the red tinted glasses come on and I cannot see passed the Three Feathers – but I have taken off the glasses before I started typing – the gloves are off in addition, mainly because typing is easier without them.

Wales, the team that 2 years ago ran rampant through the 6 nations claiming the Grandslam, a team of attacking flair built on the granite foundation of a downright mean defence. Well that was then and this is now, and what do we have – a team leaking tries and points like a colander trying to catch custard, a team of stroppy idiots that put themselves before the Nation and the seriously worrying problem of no strength in depth. What in the name of JPR & Barry John is going on here – there’s no doubting that a fully fit Welsh XV is dripping with class and danger, physical battering rams, dancing backs, clever thinkers – on paper they have the lot, so what’s wrong?

Rugby is not just about the contact it’s about the concentration, if your heads not in it then it is pointless taking to the field, you can be the World’s best player but if you can’t get your jersey over your own big head then you have a serious problem. I would love to say that Wales are currently suffering from a crisis of confidence but I seriously think that it’s too much confidence – this current Welsh team expect the opposition to cringe and quiver at the very sight of a red shirt, to panic at the sound of “Land of my Fathers”. How many times in the 6 nations did a Welsh player break clear only to get caught short, even worse lost in open field? A team supports each other a team gives the ball because at the end of the day it is about the points on the board not the person that scored those points. I get the feeling that currently Wales are a team of individuals no cohesion no unity, it’s all about themselves and not the team – clearly demonstrated in the idiotic lunacy of Andy

Idiotic lunacy and drunken battery powered antics  Andy 'Douche Bag' Powell

“Douche Bag” Powell and his drunken battery powered antics and even more demonstrated by the childish foot stamping of Tom James. Normally I would stand up and say loud and proud “Oh boys get on the bus bound for Nowheresville with stops at Nobhead and a little village of Jogon” but we have a problem here – no strength in depth!

If you kick Powell to touch who offers cover at 8 for Captain Courageous Ryan Jones, Gareth Delve has headed down under and while he will be acclimatized ready for the World Cup he will not be able to pop back and forth for home training sessions and games. So who else do you turn to? Michael Owen who has had more injuries than his footballing name sake – I don’t think so – but who else? Take a look across all the Welsh regions and what do you find – the Scarlets have David Lyons, an Aussie playing week in week out, the Blues have Ulster bound Rush, the Dragons have youth but both Lewis Evans and new find Toby Falatau are still very raw, nowhere near the finished article, and even the massive squad at the Ospreys has only one Welshman as a regular starter at 8. Wales and the Welsh management can not seriously think that they will be able to threaten at the World Cup with a flanker playing out of position.

Tom James stomped his feet and stormed off like a petulant child when he found out he was not starting against Italy – the second time the impulsive tool threw his toys out of the pram in a public manner – once can be forgiven but twice I cannot see that. So who slots into place as cover – young Prydie has the pace but also the build of a whippet, fellow young Osprey Phillips cannot even get a starting place for his region. Marc Jones is once again injured and seriously missed, the rest of his Scarlet colleagues fail to get regular game time with the Scarlet management chopping and changing the side like they are picking a side with a magic 8 ball. The Ospreys bound Fussell, the seriously improved Brew and the gob smacking gas of Will Harries are living embodiments of the old cliché – if you play in Gwent you don’t play for Wales. What more do these try machines have to do to get in to the National setup – do they really need to send a comp ticket and a taxi around to Warren’s house to make sure they get noticed.

There are other weaknesses in the Welsh set up, cover for Stephen Jones – currently there is Dan Biggar – other obvious choices are Tovey and Robinson at Gloucester but both play too far East for Gatland and co to travel to see, the Welsh management’s GPS seems to go dark around Junction 28 of the M4. Full back, currently the shirt belongs to Byrne but if he is injured the natural selection of the management is to move a centre (yes that’s right I said centre – Hook is a centre!) to full back – they are not willing to consider Dan Evans who started the season on fire or the behemoth boot of Barry Davies. Take a look at the World rankings, look at Scotland, Italy, Fiji, Samoa – they have options in different positions, and they are considered lesser nations to Wales. Look again at the World ranking and look at the teams that Wales wish to be beating and bettering – the Springboks, Australia, New Zealand, France even Ireland and England have options in different positions. Wales simply do not have these options, and that scares a proud Welshman like me. It is great having three, four even five Hookers – but if none of them can hit a simple line out jumper then it’s pointless.

Other teams even the likes of minnows, meant without insult, Italy manage to field “A” sides, they give the youth and inexperienced the opportunity to state their claim to gain the experience – why don’t Wales? We are told by the Welsh higher management that it’s a simple matter of finances or lack of them – I am sorry that is a massive sack of pigs plop. The WRU make more money than almost any other nation – if it’s about cash generated by the home union then how the hell are the Italians fielding an “A” side – are the WRU seriously expecting us to believe that the Italian Rugby Union generates more cold hard readies that the WRU, Wales does not have fans Wales has fanatics – if the WRU released an “Ich Dien” embossed condom and charged £90 each, then millions of little Welsh swimmers would stay under the rain coat. If the WRU stated that every fan had to have a brand new shirt for every home game – the fans would queue up at the sports shops tickets in hand regardless of the cost. Put simply the WRU has money – it just does not like spending it or are more interested in hording it in the Millennium Stadium vaults, in the hope that when the credit crunch is over Wales will become the next financial super power.

The regional set up was created to allow for development and to ensure that the cream rises to the top – then why are players not getting released to the feeder clubs to get game time, and why are the regions signing other internationals as starters. I would take my words back if the Welsh regions where dominating in both Magners and Heineken Cup – but that’s not the case. Both Scarlets and Blues play in the Amlin Cup this weekend, but in the league they have stuttered and staggered like a hobo after a bottle of turps. The Ospreys maybe in the Heineken Cup quarter final stages, but they have to face the scary prospect of a bruising Basque encounter to get through to the next round, and their play-off position in the Magners League is seriously in threat with a nightmare tough run in ahead of them. The Dragons have teased with the playoffs but I think even the most partisan of Black and Ambers will admit that it is just a fantasy.

The long and short of it is that the National side and the Regional set up are in trouble, drastic changes need to be made to avoid the house crumbling into the sand its built on. I still believe that they have the players and the coaching set up – but things need to change in the mentality and with the money men. Unless life can be pumped into the purse string holders then their cold aged hands will close around the purse strings so tight that they will never get them opened. The mental ethos has to change – they need to start allowing the teams to play their natural game and not expect wins just because they turn up. 

The State of the Nation is not a good one, someone needs to charge the paddles and kick start the heart of this proud rugby nations before it flat lines.

DC