Return of the old guard should drive Wales on
In the end, Cape Town was a step too far but, for a team so many people thought were going to take a hiding in all three Tests, Dan Biggar’s Welsh side can return home this week with their heads held very high. A first win over the Springboks on South African soil exceeded the expectations of many. The way they pushed the Boks to the wire in Pretoria in the First Test was sensational, losing to an 84th minute penalty, and they were with them almost all the way in Cape Town, too.
If the win was thoroughly deserved and something of which they can all feel proud, the key for Wayne Pivac and his coaching team has been the experience his players have picked up playing three games in a row against the world champions. What I hope is they can take the same dogged spirit into their next match, against New Zealand in Cardiff, and maybe come up with another historic win.
They shouldn’t, and obviously don’t, fear anyone. They had some good players, but now they have a great group. There is still a lot of improvement to come – the back line needs to become more fluent, the lineout needs work and they must reduce the penalty count against them – but all the raw ingredients are that for a much improved run-in into the 2023 World Cup.
As much as the advances made by Tommy Reffell grabbed the headlines, the improvements made by props Gareth Thomas and Dillon Lewis, wings Louis Rees-Zammit and Josh Adams, scrum half Kieran Hardy and centre Nick Tompkins were great to see, for me the story of the tour was the return of the old guard.
George North wasn’t sure if he would ever get back to this level again after his last injury, but he came back with a bang and looks set for a long run at centre as he continues to break records. He is now the most capped Welsh back and has started 101 games for Wales in a decade. There are many more to come and the more he plays, the better he looks in the midfield.
Then you come to the two back row men, Dan Lydiate and Taulupe Faletau. It was a cruel, cruel blow when Pivac had to pull Faletau out of the game just before the start. His performances in the first two Tests were simply sensational and proved he is back to his brilliant best.
Then there is Lydiate. The tractor man simply bulldozed his way into the Boks for two and a quarter Tests before a head knock and cut forced him to leave the fray. Who thought he would get back to the top – and then play as well as when he was voted player of the tournament after Wales won the Grand Slam in the 2012 Six Nations. Another World Cup is definitely back on the agenda for him and those young players learning from him and Faletau will become better players for it.
Their experience, along with North, Alun Wyn Jones, Liam Williams and skipper Dan Biggar, will drive the culture, the desire and the improvement needed to arrive in France in 14 months time in good enough shape to mount another major challenge. They say there is no substitute for experience and these boys of proving that. Just as the Irish will return from their incredible tour to New Zealand convinced they can become world champions next year, so Pivac needs to turn up the heat in his squad to challenge his players to build on what they have done out in South Africa.
Going back to Ireland, what a performance that was from them in Auckland. It is right up there with any triumph by the British & Irish Lions this century. They mugged the All Blacks in their own back yard and left them wondering what the hell was going on. The Irish confidence, competence and will to win simply shone through.
The sight of Peter O’Mahony in tears on the touchline was proof enough of how much this win will mean to them. And, as he said, it will make it easier for the next generation of Irish players to go out and beat New Zealand again.
That’s what we’ve got to hope the triumph in Bloemfontein will do for Welsh rugby. However desperate a defeat it was against Italy in the Six Nations, this squad needs to be judged by what they have achieved in the last three weeks rather than what happened in March. Wayne Pivac has admitted he got things hopelessly wrong that day. Over the past three weeks we’ve seen what his side is capable of achieving.
The other interesting aspect of watching Wales in South Africa was seeing the seamless transition of Jamie Roberts from player to pundit. The man who has plied his trade so successfully all over the world as one of the great centres of his era, and one of Wales’ best of all-time, has done a great job reporting from the Welsh camp for Sky Sports.
I always thought that a man with more degrees than you can shake a stick at would progress further than the touchlines after rugby, but he did a great job as a co-commentator and interviewer. It is not the easiest thing to do, as I know from personal experience, but you might say he is one for the future.
Well done on a great career, Jamie, and thanks for the odd pass or two!!
“This squad needs to be judged on what they have achieved in the last three weeks”