Valleys again resounding with confidence

WALES HOLDERS AIM TO BUILD ON SUCCESSWith sound structures, a proven coaching team and a very talented group of players, Wales appear to be in rude health again. Gavin Cummiskyreports

THE WELSH Rugby Union reaction to failure to qualify from the pool stages of the 2007 World Cup was instantaneous. Not knee-jerk, mind, but ruthless nonetheless. The highly-regarded head coach Gareth Jenkins was dismissed and Warren Gatland hired in his stead.

The former Ireland and London Wasps coach was joined by Shaun Edwards, Rob Howley, Robyn McBride and Neil Jenkins on the new coaching ticket. Within five months Wales won the Grand Slam.

The IRFU did it differently after their similarly miserable World Cup experience. Perhaps hand-cuffed by a contract extension given to Eddie O’Sullivan before the tournament or a sense of lingering loyalty, they retained the incumbent’s services, witnessing Six Nations defeats to Wales, France and finally an English hammering at Twickenham before sending a stop-gap coaching team, led by Michael Bradley, to the Southern Hemisphere for further defeats to New Zealand and Australia.

Wales are the leading lights in Northern Hemisphere rugby right now, not quite on a par with the great, five-time Grand Slam winning teams of the 1970s but 2005 and 2008 championships wins, admittedly offset by the World Cup (a genuine “blip”), see them entering the 2009 season, a Lions year, in the best shape since those halcyon days when Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett, JPR Williams et al were in their prime.

Gatland oversees onfield matters, but the business of rugby is watched over by Roger Lewis. Selected from 115 candidates, he was certainly a bold appointment as group chief executive in November 2006, but thus far Lewis has proved a qualified success. With a background in television (managing director of ITV Wales), media (Classic FM and BBC Radio One) and the music industry (EMI and Decca records), as a radio producer in the 1980s he made music documentaries with Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Bob Geldof, Wham and Madonna.

“Before I joined the Welsh Rugby Union I spent 30 years in business and I never shied away from making the tough calls,” said Lewis. “The trick is knowing when to make a call and understanding the speed of change an organisation can cope with to move forward. My skills as a manager were not based on the tactical insight of rugby but about creating the right environment. For a business to be sustainable it has got to be based on a number of people and not one individual.”

It is hard to argue with Lewis; once Wales were defeated 38-34 in dramatic circumstances by Fiji, Jenkins, set for a long-term stay in charge after a fine tenure as Llanelli coach, was immediately relieved of his duties. Jenkins had been parachuted in to replace Mike Ruddock after he was unceremoniously dumped from the job, seemingly by a player coup, before the dust had settled on the 2005 Grand Slam success.

The Gatland decision immediately reaped the ultimate reward. Clearly a fine crop of players, as proven in 2005, now captained by Ryan Jones, they were aided significantly by the return of Gavin Henson from injury and Martyn Williams from retirement.

The success of Welsh rugby continues to gain pace with the Ospreys and Cardiff Blues making the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, while players like number eight Andy Powell and young winger Leigh Halfpenny appear on the verge of great things.

Lewis also notes “the success we have experienced on the pitch has been replicated off the pitch”, with the best financial results in the WRU’s 128-year history. A €26.1 million profit allowed them knock €11 million off the Millennium Stadium debt, which is now at €38.7 million.

“What we have to do is reduce the debt further – much closer to £20 (€22.1) million, in fact, I’d prefer it to be below that. The second thing we have to do is invest in the infrastructure of the stadium as it is now 10 years old. We’ve got to ensure it is maintained as one of the finest rugby stadiums in the world.”

They seem years ahead of Irish rugby on and off the field. Granted, Lansdowne Road is due to reopen in August 2010 and the WRU are dealing with the national pastime in contrast to Irish sport where Gaelic games and soccer figure hugely.

“Like every business, it comes down to the people,” Lewis explains. “I think we got the right people in the right places, with the right financial support and we created the right environment.

“I must pay tribute to the coaches and the players because they have created their own environment, which is a winning, uncompromising and brutally honest environment.

“We have a remarkable group of players with outstanding management from Warren Gatland, alongside Shaun Edwards, Rob Howley, Robyn McBride, Neil Jenkins and of course the analysts and backroom staff. They’ve created a structure and a system and, most importantly, a culture that allows the players to fulfil their potential.”

However, Lewis is fully aware how quickly these good times can disintegrate, the national sport engenders great passions.

“The passions are off the scale. It is impossible for anyone in Wales not to feel the heat. The key thing is, in the dragon’s den as well as the fire and smoke we also need light. That is my fundamental job – where is the light, what is the way forward? It never stops,” added Lewis. “That is the paradox of sport. In life we all need certainty. Sport strives and lives on uncertainty; for every winner there will always be a loser. That is the paradox. We know Wales are only as good as their next game.”