As a new era of Welsh rugby begins with clubs, regions and hierarchy starting fresh, has Welsh rugby on all platforms actually developed further or stagnated?
If we look at the progress since the 2011 Rugby World Cup it tells a long twisting story that reveals how we have changed as a nation of rugby.
WELSH PREMIERSHIP (WP)
The last four years has seen a steadily increasing quality within the WP walls. The introduction of promotion back in 2014 saw Ebbw Vale replace Swansea and this massively improved quality with the Steelmen proving very tough opponents for any challenger, finishing 2nd in their first tenure back in the top flight. This was a better team than Swansea and as the year went along more players were added to all the clubs from academies making it a better league to play in. A lot of players are youthful, passionate players and so tempo has certainly increased.
The field has been more balanced with everyone able to beat everyone and this showed with the struggling Bridgend Ravens defeating reigning champions Pontypridd to win last year’s Swalec cup. This unpredictability has certainly lit a spark in the boiler for all the teams with no one resting on their laurels walking into any fixture.
If this platform continues to grow then the prestige of Welsh club rugby is sure to grow in a vast and positive manner. This is great news for our game, even if the Premiership is being expanded to 16 teams which may dilute the talent base.
REGIONS
In the PRO12 the only region to win the league from Wales has been the Ospreys in 2011-12 season, since then there hasn’t been a Welsh winner. However we are still competing, but this is not enough in a sub-par league as the Pro12. There has not been any European top tier success and we haven’t even been in a final since 1995-96. Neither has there been a second tier European Challenge Cup winner since the Cardiff Blues last won that competition in 2009-2010.
However if we are in transition. Do we really expect to take on well-oiled sides from France and England who this year make up the entire last eight between them? The money disparity is surely a factor in success with much larger budgets in France and England than here in Wales, even if the Saracens are £45.1m in debt in doing so.
The LV= Cup has granted the regions no success either since the 2008-09 stage, but the development of young players, which is what the regions use the LV= for, comes at the cost of not being able to win it year in, year out.
The influx of new and better players from their academies and clubs or from abroad, such as JJ Engelbrecht, does show that players do see the regions as a viable concept and want to play for them. So if they continue to develop talent via the cups like the LV and bring in talent from Welsh Premiership clubs and abroad, they could be back to competing for silverware again in the next five years.
WALES NATIONAL TEAM
This reads rather positive to an extent, with the last grand slam Wales achieved being only back in 2012, a rather fetching feat for Gatland and his army. The last Triple Crown was also back in 2012 and so not too long at all with Wales last winning the championship trophy back in 2013. This is very positive for a country whose budget is stretched to the limit and against some very strong teams in France, Ireland and England.
Wales have only finished 3rd in the last two tournaments and so has this shown progression? Some may argue that that is still very good but last year’s loss to England was a terrible one and ultimately cost us the tournament.
Our World Cup in 2011 wielded a semi-final that was ended by the disputable red carding of skipper Sam Warburton and that game ended with us losing to France by a narrow margin of 9-8. 2011 was a belter of a World Cup for the men in red, and to improve on this would be very tough indeed. This showed, with Wales getting out of the group of death and drawing the Springboks in the last 16. Despite going out a round earlier than the previous World Cup, it didn’t seem so bad with the victory over England and consequently escaping the group of death.
We actually scored more tries than we have conceded since the 2011 RWC and so if we continue to do this and Halfpenny kicks like he can do, which is usually always over 90%, Wales can gain long term success at international level.
WHERE TO NEXT?
The next four years is another big step for Welsh rugby with the introduction of the six point try, the Premiership selecting sides for the British and Irish Cup, and four teams coming up at the end of this season from the Championship to make the WP a 16-sided league. As much as I don’t rate these select sides neither do I like the four clubs coming up as it will dilute the already pretty slim pool, therefore destroying any progress made in the last four years. But nonetheless the Welsh Rugby Union management do seem to be taking a bit more interest in our club game which is something after all.
Regional rugby needs to attract more big names from abroad within their budget as well as developing players from their own academies and other Welsh clubs in order to maintain efficiency and momentum into each year’s league campaign and European cups. If possible the WRU need to help them scout around more clubs in order to find these players more easily and they mustn’t neglect players from outside of their main region area. E.g. Newport Gwent Dragons only selecting players from Newport and Cross Keys on the whole.
As Welsh rugby appoints new spokespersons for club rugby such as Ryan Jones, and new signings and projects start rolling, the Welsh rugby development pyramid is on its way upwards and there isn’t a Welsh rugby decline as it seems. We have a very positive future ahead of us in many aspects of our game – hopefully this will start with this year’s Six Nations.
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