We’re stagnating, falling behind and that’s why fans will not accept Howley
ROB HOWLEY is Welsh rugby’s version of Jeremy Corbyn. That’s my take on him. Just as opinion polls indicate the Labour leader is unlikely to win a General Election because the public can’t take to him, so Howley will never be accepted by Welsh fans as Warren Gatland’s permanent successor as Wales coach. And it puts the Welsh Rugby Union in a right old pickle, because they entrusted Howley with the job on a caretaker basis. Far from winning the people over, the opposite has happened.
No matter what Howley does with the Lions in New Zealand at the end of the season, he will never win over the doubters.
It’s rare to hear anyone backing the former Wales captain as the man to take over when Gatland leaves in 2019 and the WRU would be presiding over a pr disaster if they ignore the views of their stakeholders. Howley is a decent and hard-working bloke, but does he have the charisma to suggest he’s anything other than a No.2?
Under Howley this season, and indeed since the World Cup, Wales have at best stagnated. You could go further and suggest they have gone backwards, whilst other countries have evolved a style of play far more in tune with the modern international game.
To be fair to Howley, he probably felt his hands were somewhat tied behind his back, given Gatland had implemented a style of play for Wales and returns to the main job next season after his spell in charge of the Lions.
But the farcical nature of the finale against France shouldn’t mask the fact that, yet again, Wales offered very little going forward. They were depending upon on a rock-solid defence and Leigh Halfpenny’s lethal goal-kicking to win the game in Paris.
Rugby, as England, Ireland and Scotland have proved, has moved on.
On the evidence of what we have seen this season, including France at the weekend, can you really say Wales have?
Not only are Wales not winning consistently, there is no visible evidence of the injection of fresh blood so many so audibly argue for.
That’s the worst case scenario for any sports team. At least if youth had been given its head, many fans would accept results believing the future could be rosy. But only Ross Moriarty has come through since the 2015 World Cup. During that time, Wales have capped just three new players. The set-up has gone stale. It appears Howley and Gatland have decided the group of players who have dominated selection during this Six Nations are the ones to take Wales to the 2019 World Cup.
But as results and performances have so amply demonstrated, Wales’ chances of winning the global showpiece are slim unless they start bringing in fresh faces and proper creativity.
It’s one thing to talk about evolving your game, another entirely to do it with the same bunch of players who have become so accustomed to Warrenball down the years. Particularly when, in the past, they have done it so successfully.
My fear is that if Wales continue on this current path, and I see no evidence to the contrary, Gatland will walk away in 2019 having left an old team that hasn’t evolved. Whereas England, in particular, Ireland and Scotland have dramatically altered their style to employ a more mod-