Why I haven’t given young guns their chance – Howley
ROB Howley has mounted a passionate defence of his decision not to “blood” players against France in Wales’ Six Nations finale.
Wales have capped just three players – Ellis Jenkins, Cory Hill and Sam Davies – since the 2015 World Cup.
It’s the lowest number of any of the top nine nations in the world with Argentina, who reached the semi-finals two years ago, the most prolific, having handed debuts to 26 players.
But Howley is adamant the possibility of finishing second in the Six Nations table behind back-to-back winners England and climbing into the top four of the global rankings ahead of May’s draw for the 2019 World Cup was more important than giving the likes of outside-half Sam Davies a first start.
“I believe giving players the exposure to international rugby is pretty important,” said Wales’ interim coach Howley.
“In terms of the numbers, you could question giving a player exposure and that’s fair but, ultimately, where we have been over the last eight or nine years, a lot of youngsters have been blooded at a young age and they have taken the opportunity in a red jersey – and they are still young.
“But, hopefully, there’s a queue coming in behind them and they will be given an opportunity.
“From an international coach’s perspective, you blood players through talent and being forced to through injury.
“Ultimately, you pick the best players to play in a competition.” Wales blooded players in the United States and Canada in 2009 and Japan in 2013, when the stars were absent on Lions duty. And they gave some fringe players an outing against Super Rugby outfit Chiefs in New Zealand last June, only for them to be hammered by a largely secondstring opposition.
“A lot of players had exposure and have had it in training alongside the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Jamie Roberts or Scott Williams,” declared Howley.
“We have got two years where we are going to be in a really good position going into the next World Cup. I suppose it’s what point in time you want to go back to. In 2011 we went into a Rugby World Cup and we were in a period of change with the
likes of Dwayne Peel, Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips, Tom Shanklin, Mark Jones, Shane Williams and Lee Byrne either having retired or not being picked on performance.
“On the back of that we had identified players and given them an opportunity. Jonathan Davies was capped out in Canada, Dan Lydiate, young players who have performed in the national jersey so the age profile is pretty important going into the next Rugby World Cup.
“The two years going into a Rugby World Cup is important. ‘Toby’ Faletau had only played one game for Wales, against the Barbarians, before the 2011 tournament, but he was young and good. We have blooded youngsters along the way.”
Asked if that meant Wales would experiment against Tonga and Samoa in June’s tour, Howley responded: “That will depend on how many of our players go with the Lions.
“And, if they don’t, we will have to decide if they tour with Wales or stay at home and rest up. That will open an opportunity up for the next player who’s put his hand up.
“The Rugby World Cup draw is pretty important and that’s been in the back of our minds over the last 12 months, having had the experience of England and Australia (in a so-called group of death) in 2015.
“This game against France can put us in a better position and I have spoken to the players about their motivation. Things motivate us in different ways. Whether it’s through fear or ambition, they will use it.
“But, ultimately, we have got an opportunity to go into the draw for the next World Cup ranked fourth, which is quite a large incentive for this group of players and coaches.
“Players who have played in the national jersey have performed consistently over a period of time and you pick your best players for Wales.” Howley was adamant Wales had considered making changes as they bid to extend their winning streak against France to six and beat them at the Stade de France for the sixth time in 10 matches.
“Every position is discussed in terms of players and their impact. I was really pleased with the impact off the bench in the win against Ireland,” he said.
“In the course of the championship it hasn’t been good enough, but against Ireland the bench came on and did their job
“I keep mentioning about the 23 players, not about the 15 and just consistently saying the same message to the players.
“The bench made the difference and ultimately in international games that is the difference between winning and losing, and thankfully last weekend we were on the right side of it.
“The internal adversity was at a very high level. That is important to us as players and coaches. Our players were outstanding Friday night. The internal messages meant we performed at a good level.
”We’re up against a very good French side. They were potentially, having watched the England and Ireland games, unlucky not to come away with more wins.
”We have good memories of playing them in recent years. We’ve been there and won, and won at the Principality Stadium too.
“International rugby is about your next game. One game can be far different to the next, so we need to go out to Paris and perform to the level we have in training. We feel in good shape, like we did for the Ireland game. We are looking for a similar result. We have talked about the opportunity to go fourth in the world but we are relying on other results to go second in the Six Nations.
“The players need to get the processes right. We have to make sure we are task-orientated and the result will look after itself.”