SAM LEARNING FROM MASTER
SAM Wainwright has only won four caps for Wales but he is already well qualified to talk about the bipolar nature of international rugby.
The 24-year-old couldn’t have made a better international debut, with his scrummaging in the final quarter playing a crucial role in securing Wales’s first ever victory over South Africa in their own backyard.
But fast-forward five months and Wainwright – along with Rhodri Jones and Bradley Roberts – were on the receiving end of a scrum hiding against Georgia in what was the final play of the match to hand the Lelos a famous victory over Wales.
But Wainwright, who is well known for his determination and work ethic, is confident he can bounce back to become a better player.
“I was quite frustrated coming out of the autumn with Wales, especially after the Georgia game,” he said. “Big respect to Georgia, who are a very good scrummaging side, but I felt quite a bit of frustration after that.
“I took everything I could out of it learning-wise. I’ve had to be quite brutal on myself.
“Part of being a prop is if it goes really well it goes really well, but it can go really bad. I just enjoy the constant learning, the constant wanting to get better. Jon Humphreys was very good with me and is a very good coach.
“He’ll break down everything with me and say this is why that’s good and this is why this is not so good. This is how we get it to improve.
“During the Georgia game some things didn’t go quite right. Those (Pivac and Humphreys) guys said afterwards they didn’t want me to be too hard on myself.
“It won’t be the first and it won’t be the last tough lesson I get. It’s about how you deal with things when it hits the lower points and the tougher times, how you cope with it, and how you overcome it.
“There’s a positive in every negative. Nobody wants the negative but what you can take out of a negative situation and turn it into a positive is massive.”
Wainwright has made one significant change to his career since then, having left Saracens to join the Scarlets.
Having struggled to get any game time at Saracens, Wainwright
insists that was a motivation for his move to Llanelli. But more than anything it was the chance to work with forwards coach Ben Franks.
“If I ever had to come back to Wales it was always going to be to the Scarlets due to the fact I held them in such a high place because growing up they were the team,” he said.
“Hopefully I can continue getting some more game time. That’s what I need is some game time.
“To improve you need the tough lessons, the learnings, and for mistakes to be made so I can get better.
“There aren’t many better people to learn from than Ben Franks. He’s been unbelievable. He’s always showing me some clips of my game so I can improve.”
Wainwright admits it is surreal working with Franks and hopes to follow in his footsteps by making an impact on the international circuit in the same fashion as his other childhood hero Adam Jones.
“When you are younger you watch people who are in your position,” he said.
“He (Adam Jones) was an unbelievable scrummager. When I was growing up I looked at him and thought I want to be like him.
“He was just an unbelievable player. I watched Ben and Owen Franks growing up and I was obsessed with watching them on Youtube.
“The way those guys trained and worked was unbelievable. You have people you look up to so I’d say Adam along with both Ben and Owen Franks were players I looked up to.
“I hope one day I get the opportunity to achieve what they’ve achieved.”
It is not controversial to say tighthead prop is the weakest position in Wales, with there being little strength in depth behind Tomas Francis and Dillon Lewis.
Wainwright knows if he can scrummage well at regional level he has every chance of forcing his way into Warren Gatland’s Six Nations plans.
“It’s always in the back of your mind,” said Wainwright.
“You don’t have to think about it much because it’s just there.
“I’ve been very fortunate to be able to do what I’ve done so far, but for me to achieve anything going further I have to work on my foundations and that’s here with the Scarlets.
“If I can do my job well here, then I know other things will hopefully come off the back of that.”*