It’s been a long time Wales Head coach Gareth Jenkins stated: “Rugby is like baking a cake. You get the ingredients and put them all together. Then comes the cooking time – when you’re trying to win trophies.”
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One of Burry Port’s greatest spoke after his then Llanelli side destroyed Cardiff 39-10 in the memorable 1999 Welsh Cup semi-final. Scarlets in the final, winning 37-10 at Ninian Park, but that’s another matter.
The cake analogy is what concerns us here. In particular, how Wales boss Steve Tandy is shaping up on the roasting front heading into the final round Nations Championship matches?
No one could accuse the coach’s immediate predecessors Wayne Pivac and Warren Gatland of not at least trying to pick up the slack. The pair shared no less than 56 Test debuts between 2020 and 2024 but, ultimately, neither could sustain success or anything like it in those turbulent pre-Thandi years.
On occasions during that period, Wales fans could be forgiven for longing for the days of yore, when even tough times occasionally came with a bit of levity, if not so much in the case of the notorious Gethin Jenkins who was hard to entertain after being referred to as ‘Mr Jennings’ by a French media official during a post-match press conference. It is not surprising that no burst of laughter from the great Wales echoed through the room.
Let’s go back to today’s man in charge. In the 12 Tests since he took charge 14 months ago, Tandy has given debuts to nine players. Has he reached the stage where we can at least start to believe he has something like the right mix to take Wales forward, or are further trips to the supermarket aisle required?
The upcoming Nations Championship matches will tell us a lot.
Welsh rugby, being Welsh rugby, will never stop inviting underdogs – not tomorrow, not later today, but now, before the clock runs out, with a fast car sent to collect all interested parties and whisk them away to the Vale of Glamorgan training base in Wales.
Steffan Emanuel earned his man of the match after he stood out for Cardiff in their 26-0 rout of Ospreys. Everything he did had a class stamp, from his passing to his running and his ability to make the right decisions.
He had a hand in three of Cardiff’s tries and, on the other side of the ball, made 17 tackles, including a try save that saw him hold Keelan Giles in the dying seconds. Tom Shanklin wasn’t exaggerating when he said afterwards: “This is the game where he announced himself on the big stage.” Others went further, wanting the 20-year-old to be thrust into a national setting with Amazon’s same-day delivery speed.
But Emanuel has only started nine senior matches and the youngster’s rapid entry into the unforgiving world of Test rugby is not without its perils, with the risk that he will jump from A to Z in his development, missing all the stops in between. Brought in at the right pace and allowed to develop his skills, he could make a big impact if or when the call up eventually comes.
The same goes for Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, Tom Bowen and Lewis Edwards, all great prospects but still wearing L-plates. The accolades they’ve had so far are well-deserved, but they need experience more than anything else. Exceptions to the rule are rare.
The good news for Tandy is that a number of the players he has selected in his autumn panel are in form ahead of the Championship which returns to action this weekend, none more so than Jac Morgan.
What else can be said about Gloucester’s brilliant new acquisition from the Ospreys? Defending better than Rumpole at the Old Bailey at the moment – ask Bath, with Morgan making 20 tackles without a miss against them of late.
The former Osprey was also carried as a demon in the same game. He might have the odd day off, but it looks like there aren’t any days off. A worthy successor to Williams, Warburton and Tipuric? Absolutely.
Louis Rees-Zammit was also looking for a role and his return to the wing revitalized him. The try he scored Bristol Bears vs Leicester The Tigers saw him leave a school of opponents trailing in his steam. The break was so clean that there was even time for a triumphant hand in the air five meters from the try line. This was Rees-Zammit enjoying his rugby again, swaggering like Teddy Boy with a leather jacket and a slicked bar circa 1955.
Blair Murray, Tomos Williams, Aaron Wainwright and Dewi Lake – the only player to start in each of the dozen or so Tests Tandy has overseen – are among others who have made headlines and airwaves of late.
Tandy would also be boosted by the return of Rhys Carre to the fray after injury, with the big man performing well for Saracens against Harlequin. He took a wrecking ball to a Quins run and made a mark across the field. Compiling the player’s ratings, one writer marked the 20st 11lb loosehead a full two points higher than any of his Saracens teammates, hailing him as ‘outstanding’. The guy wasn’t wrong.
Blair Murray, Tomos Williams, Aaron Wainwright and Dewi Lake – the only player to start in each of the dozen or so Tests Tandy has overseen – are among others who have made headlines and airwaves of late.
If Tomas Francis was used mainly as a bench option Sale Sharks, many Wales supporters will be reassured if the experienced scrum master makes a 23rd appearance for his country during the upcoming series.
Tandy needs the Welsh pack to hold on and also needs one of its two young fly-halves, Dan Edwards and Sam Costelow, to nail down the No.10 jersey. Both show promise, but the Wales head coach demands authority and consistency from the man who gets the nod.
If one or both of them can make a big step forward in the coming weeks, it will be a huge plus for the Wales management.
A strong month from Eddie James wouldn’t go amiss from Tandy’s perspective either. Scarlet broke through as a Test player in last season’s Six Nations, eyeing that role with his powerful running, even if 99.9 per cent of the Welsh public – or thereabouts – seemed convinced he should have started at inside center rather than 13, where he was deployed against Japan.
Ahead of next year’s World Cup, Tandy will need to be sure to use the youngster in the right role.
Few will bet the kids’ legacy that Wales will topple New Zealand, on either side All black people field, but a decent performance would set them up for a turnaround in Australia
How will Wales fare in the coming weeks? It goes without saying that they have to see Japan off, and if they can do that convincingly, so much the better in terms of building confidence for the rest of the championship.
Few will bet on the heritage kids that Wales will topple New Zealand, regardless of which side of the All Blacks field, but a decent performance would set them up for an upset in Australia, who can be a tough team to read – pass Japan in one of the two Tests they played Brave Blossoms in August and then scored a big win over South Africa in September before suffering a couple of heavy losses against New Zealand. Then up and down.
But, of course, Wales had not been on their feet for a long time.
A good autumn would encourage hope that there might be semi-brighter times ahead, regardless of the off-field issues that continue to hamper Welsh rugby. Some will feel until they are sorted and a measure of harmony is established, the game on the west side of the Severn will continue to run up the escalator.
But Tandy will be hoping his players can provide a point of cheer. It won’t be easy or at all simple, but then again, nothing in the Wales game ever is.
