HOW PIVAC’S WALES BEING OUTSIDERS TO
THERE has been a kind of perfect symmetry to Wales’ international season. It began in Paris and it ended in Paris. What has been truly remarkable is the transformation that has taken place over that six-month period from October to March.
From a gloomy autumn littered with defeats to blossoming springtime success, it has been the most pleasant and unexpected of journeys.
Zeroes to heroes, chumps to champs, flops to tops. You can use whatever headline you like.
But the more pertinent point is how has it been achieved?
How have they gone from finishing fifth in last year’s Six Nations, which culminated in a Halloween horror show at home to Scotland, to winning the title?
How has an autumn that brought four losses in six matches been followed by four wins out of five in the Championship and so nearly a Grand Slam?
When you look closely at it, what you discover is a number of factors, including a series of bold, brave decisions by Wayne Pivac, a man whose job was on the line not so very long ago.
THE COACHING CHANGE
FOLLOWING rugby’s resumption after the Covid shutdown, Wales’ international season began with a warm-up match against France in Paris on October 24.
It was not to be a happy night, as they were well beaten 38-21.
The most disturbing aspect of the display was their defence.
Not to beat about the bush, it was all over the place.
The co-ordinated red wave we had got so used to under Shaun Edwards was nowhere to be seen, with players jumping out of the line and more dog legs than you see at Crufts.
The end result was them conceding five tries as they were ripped open by the likes of Dupont, Ntamack, Fickou, Vakatawa and Teddy Thomas.
It was not pleasant viewing and not what we had become accustomed to during the Gatlandedwards era.
After that was followed by defeat at home to Scotland in a rearranged Six Nations match, Pivac decided he had to take action.
His response was to dispense with the services of defence coach Byron Hayward.
It was a tough decision for him, because he was close to Hayward, having worked with him for six years at the Scarlets and Wales.
It also saw him having to face questions over whether playerpower had played a part in the former fly-half’s departure.
Ultimately, Pivac was pretty frank, saying he felt they weren’t getting what they wanted from their defence and so the change had to be made.
With Sam Warburton having stepped down the previous month, that was two of his coaching team gone within a matter of weeks.
It wasn’t an auspicious start to the autumn campaign.
Pivac then took the bold move of installing Gethin Jenkins as defence coach, bold given the former Lions prop was very much in the early days of his coaching career.
But Jenkins has grown into the role and impressed with the way he has conducted himself.
While there is still clearly room for improvement in terms of the number of tackles missed during the Six Nations, there have been defining moments that say much about the never-say-die attitude Jenkins appears to have instilled.
In particular, there have been the last-gasp try-saving tackles from Justin Tipuric and Owen Watkin during the victories over Ireland and Scotland.
Without those, it could have been a very different Championship.
THE AUTUMN ALMANAC
JONATHAN Humphreys summed things up pretty well a couple of weeks ago.
“We kept on saying all the way through the autumn what the autumn was, but nobody wanted to listen,” said the Wales forwards coach.
“We couldn’t have shouted it any louder.”
In essence, the point he was making was the autumn had been about building depth and that’s what the coaches had tried to get across at the time.
Now inevitably, that kind of message does tend to get drowned out a bit when you are losing games, as Wales did four times out of six in October, November and December.
Defeats to Ireland and England followed those at the hands of France and Scotland, with the only wins coming over Georgia and Italy.
It meant the heat was on Pivac big time. That was the narrative, not building depth.
But, with hindsight, you can see what Humphreys is talking about.
The Wales coaches used the autumn to see what was at their disposal, juggling the squad to try out different players and combinations with one eye on the 2023 World Cup.
Again it was bold and brave because the resulting defeats meant there was a real danger they wouldn’t be at the helm come 2023. But, looking back now, it did pay off. It enabled Pivac to see who was and wasn’t ready and it threw up a group of new faces who were to go on to have big roles to play in the Six Nations. Louis Rees-zammit, Callum Sheedy, Kieran Hardy, James Botham and Johnny Williams were all blooded in the autumn and they all contributed towards the titlewinning campaign.
THE OLD GUARD
WHILE the emergence of new talent was very welcome, what was also vitally important was the return of some of the old guard for the Six Nations.
Ken Owens and Josh Navidi missed the whole of the autumn campaign through shoulder surgery and concussion respectively. Having them back on board was vital.
Owens helped stabilise the set-piece and made the third most carries, devouring the hard yards, while adding invaluable leadership and experience.
Navidi’s re-emergence was all the more welcome given the loss of Dan Lydiate just 10 minutes into the tournament.
His physicality and work-rate on both sides of the ball helped complete the perfect balance in the back row, enabling Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau to blossom alongside his graft.
Speaking of Faletau, his rejuvenation was one of the absolute highlights of the campaign.
We had become so used to him topping the various charts over the years that you almost took it for granted.
But after the injury woes he had endured, he struggled to get back up to that level during 2020.
So to see him out in front again and back to his very best has been such a plus.
The stats speak for themselves – the second most carries and tackles in the Championship, with only CJ Stander and Tipuric ahead of him in those respective categories, while he also made the most metres of any forward from any country, with his dynamism and footwork setting him apart.
And, last but certainly not least, there’s the oldest member of the old guard, the skipper Alun Wyn Jones.
The knee injury he picked up in the final game of the autumn was supposed to keep him out of the first two rounds of the Six Nations and there were those who were asking whether the battering his body has taken over his career and Old Father Time were catching up with the 35-year-old.
But not only did he get back for the start of the tournament, but he was to prove as inspiring and as involved as ever, with his perpetual motion and presence seeing him make most people’s team of the tournament.
BY GEORGE, WHAT A GOOD MOVE
THE idea of playing George North in the centre is not a new one.
Warren Gatland experimented with him there a couple of times.
But Pivac is the first coach to give him an extended run there and how it’s paid off.
With his 29th birthday coming up next month, it’s like North has now embarked on a second career, such is the way he has grown into the No. 13 role.
He has carried with purpose and power, he’s defended resolutely and when he’s had a sniff of the try line he has been as predatory as ever, touching down three times in his last five Tests in his new role.
To have that kind of running threat in the 13 channel is a real weapon and, by the end of the Championship, his midfield partnership with the shifted Jonathan Davies was really blooming.
Like Faletau, North has been very much a player reborn this season.
With 105 Tests and 45 tries already to his name and plenty of gas still in the tank, who knows what records North could set by the time he finally hangs up his boots.
CURING THE LINEOUT
THERE were a number of problem areas during the autumn, with the scrum, the breakdown, the defence and the attack all struggling at different points.
But the one consistent Achilles heel was the lineout.
Wales just couldn’t secure their own ball with any degree of regularity and the malaise continued into the Six Nations opener against Ireland.
In the course of seven matches, they had last 23 lineouts on their own throw. You are not going to win trophies like that.
Yet by the end of the Championship, the lineout had not just been sorted but turned into an area of real strength, via a mighty driving maul accompaniment, with a succession of tries stemming from that platform. So how were the issues resolved? Well, there was a change in personnel for one thing.
Ken Owens brought a steadying hand on the tiller following his return from injury, while Adam Beard served as a highly effective lineout caller having forced his way back into the reckoning following his autumn omission.
Having opted for that combination, Pivac then stuck with it, despite the wobbles against Ireland.
That consistency of selection ultimately paid off.
By the end of the campaign, the lineout was working like a well-oiled machine front, middle and back, with the hoistable Tipuric serving as the main source of possession, claiming 11 takes, while there were even steals off the opposition.
Nowhere was the transformation more apparent and, with the scrum also solidified, Wales had their foundations stones in place.
AUGMENTED ATTACK
WHEN Wales completed the Grand Slam in 2019, they scored 10 tries.
This season, in winning the title, they have racked up 20. The figures speak for themselves. During the huge successes of the Gatland era, one of the persistent bug-bears was the at-times prosaic attack.
The triumphs were based first and foremost on an ultra-mean defence, with points then being eked out via attrition and physical power – Warrenball essentially.
It wasn’t always pretty and if there was a complaint it was about the lack of flair and a cutting edge.
Well, it’s a very different Wales now, but crucially it’s still a winning one, just with the attack now playing
a much augmented role.
Under the tutelage of Stephen Jones, the offensive game has really stepped up a notch.
Wales have become such a clinical side, turning opportunities into tries with unerring regularity, showing such variety and imagination on the ball.
In their opening two games, they spent just two minutes 33 seconds in the opposition 22 and yet came away with six touchdowns. That is some rate of return. As possession and territory increased during the tournament, so the tries flowed even faster, either through individual brilliance or collective enterprise.
It was just great to watch.
PROP IDOLS
GOING into the tournament, everyone agreed it was vital that first-choice props Wyn Jones and Tomas Francis stayed fit.
Amid a number of injuries, they were the only experienced, strong-scrummaging props available.
Lose one of them and Wales were in trouble.
Well, they stayed fit and stayed the course – and how.
Loosehead Jones was on the field for 341 of the 400 minutes, while tighthead Francis wasn’t too far behind on 308.
Together they provided the scrum stability that had been lacking in the autumn, but they did much more than that.
Between them, they put in an eyewatering 106 tackles, while Jones made the second most carries in the team and Francis had the best ruck arrivals of anyone who played more than 200 minutes in the tournament.
It was some effort from the pair of them.
But what was also encouraging was the way their understudies stood up to the test when they were called into action.
Rhodri Jones made a solid contribution in the first three games, while Leon Brown was a revelation on the tighthead, particularly when he came on against Scotland, locking the scrum yards from the Welsh line.
All hail the prop idols.
WINNING TIGHT GAMES
THIS is one very welcome lasting legacy from the Gatland era.
Under him, Wales had a knack of seeing out close contests and that’s been replicated under Pivac.
They held on at the death against Ireland and Scotland, while they came on strong in the final quarter to defeat England when the game was in the balance.
There is a resolve and a determination there that really bodes well.
They so nearly did it again in Paris, only to finally succumb in the dying seconds.
But, overall, the winning habit is restored – and it’s a good habit to have.
REES LIGHTNING
AND, finally, the player who has grabbed more headlines than anyone else during the campaign.
Louis Rees-zammit had to bide his time during last year’s Six Nations, but having been blooded in the autumn, he has now come into his own.
He brings that much-quoted X-factor, the ability to create something out of not very much at all. What a finisher he is, with that superb chip-and-chase effort against Scotland and the acrobatic execution versus Ireland.
There was an even more spectacular airborne effort against France and but for a matter of millimetres it would have brought Wales the Grand Slam.
Be sure, there will be many more magic moments to come from the young man.
A star has indeed been born, as an exciting new era has been launched in wonderfully unexpected trophy-winning fashion.