WALES’ RANK FALL SURPRISES RUGBY WORLD:
‘WE were so bad last year, the cheerleaders stayed at home and phoned in the cheers.”
So said a former manager of basketball side Orlando Magic during a spell when they found their sorcery giving up on them.
And so to the Wales rugby team as they try to break a losing sequence that is now six games long and the third worst in the 139 years that the country has been playing the Test game.
Most would be aware that in this part of the world the natives are getting a shade restless.
And elsewhere the planet isn’t exactly looking on in admiration at a fall from grace that’s seen Wales plummet from number one in the world rankings just 15 months ago to ninth today.
We scouted around to see what’s being said after last week’s defeat by Ireland, the latest dire result in a series of deflating efforts by Wayne Pivac’s team...
Brendan Nel, of Supersport in South Africa, reckoned the Welsh downturn had left many in the southern hemisphere puzzled, just a year after Wales reached the World Cup semi-finals under Warren Gatland, losing to the Springboks.
“It’s not easy to comment from so far away, but what’s happened to Wales is a bit surprising to us in the south,” he told WalesOnline.
“We’ve all just come off watching the Chasing The Sun documentary on the Springboks’ World Cup win and remembering how difficult that semifinal was against Wales.
“It’s quite remarkable to see Wales fall so quickly.
“Our memories of the games between the Springboks and Wales in recent times is that things have been extremely tight.
“Maybe Wales have gone away from their DNA.
“There again, I guess it’s not just the national side. We’ve been watching some of the Welsh teams struggling in the PRO14 as well.
“I don’t think it’s too much to get worried about, though. We are at the start of a new cycle and in one of the strangest times ever. Hopefully, things will rectify themselves in Wales.
“There still look to be some good young players coming through.”
Starting his piece in the Irish Independent, Brendan Fanning invited readers to rewind to 9pm in a largely empty Aviva Stadium last Friday evening. “The ground staff were well into their post-match routine, while the stragglers who had come late to the game had completed their fitness hit – and Wales coach Wayne Pivac was out there jabbering away with Tadhg Beirne.
“It looked like a warm conversation between two men who get on. Beirne had been a big part of the Scarlets’ success, which culminated in scuttling Leinster and Munster – both away from home – to win the Pro14 four seasons ago.
“For Pivac it must feel like another lifetime. Wales is a bad place to be if the national side are in trouble, and they’re in trouble. From our remove it seemed like the coach would be happy to yak away all night rather than face the post-match questions from the Welsh media. Remoteness can be a blessing sometimes.”
Nor has the New Zealand Herald been impressed, with David Challis commenting: “Wales need to make some improvements and fast.
“They look uncomfortable in possession and their set-piece just wasn’t up to scratch.
“Pivac is still teaching his side a pattern but he needs to start making improvements fast or he could come under some pressure.”
The comments on certain websites, social media and beyond are also unforgiving – no surprise there.
On the Irish fans’ site Harpin’ On Rugby, Garry Wynne wrote: “Something very dark and mysterious seems to be happening in Welsh rugby at both club and international level.
“My first instinct is we should help, but then I remember they didn’t vote for Ireland to host the World Cup. Let’s leave them to the dogs and focus on the Scottish resurgence.”
Andy Robinson, former coach of England and then Scotland, took an altogether different tack, believing Pivac could work his way through the present difficulties and arguing that Wales’ problems were not just down to one man.
He told WalesOnline: “The wider issue for Welsh rugby is the form of the clubs as well as the national side. Back in 2008, the Ospreys were one of the leading teams, while four years ago the Scarlets were performing well and Cardiff have won a couple of Challenge Cups.
“I don’t think it’s just a Wayne Pivac issue.
“I think it’s an issue for the whole of the game in Wales.
“We are not in a normal rugby situation right now. There are no crowds in this part of the world and Wales are not playing at the Millennium Stadium, which is quite a fortress for them.
“A slight dip in form for players and things can stop going their way, with the result that games you were winning you end up losing.
“That was the case for the Scotland game. It was a match Wales would probably have won in times gone by, but they came up with the wrong result. Confidence slips away a bit then.
“People have to remember that Wales went through similar issues with Warren Gatland, not at the beginning because the Ospreys were very successful and he was smart enough to pick a lot of the Ospreys team, but just before the 2011 World Cup the national team went through a spell of being under pressure and not winning tight matches.”
He continued: “Wales play Georgia this weekend. They will get a win and in terms of the record books that will put a line in the sand.
“Then it’s about growing confidence.
“The young players you bring in you have to know they are going to deliver.
“For example, Martyn Williams was still playing well when Warren brought in Sam Warburton.
“He made Sam captain early on and he backed him as his skipper.
“So you find the young players that are going to deliver and you back them.”
He felt the WRU would stick with Pivac, saying: “I expect so.
“Wales have been through this a number of times. One of the best examples is Steve Hansen. He was a world-class coach. The team went through some tough times but they stood by him and they did eventually reap the benefits.”