WHAT NEXT FOR CARDIFF BLUES AFTER EUROPEAN SUCCESS?
What next for Challenge Cup winners?
AS the dust begins to settle on Cardiff Blues’ extraordinary Challenge Cup final victory over Gloucester in Bilbao, thoughts start to turn to the future.
How can the Arms Park outfit build on this huge achievement and avoid the decline that followed their last triumph in the competition in 2010?
What needs to happen to enable incoming coach John Mulvihill to build on the legacy left by Danny Wilson and Matt Sherratt, who are heading for pastures new after signing off in style?
Rugby correspondent Simon Thomas identifies the key issues which must be addressed...
LEARNING LESSONS FROM THE PAST
If you want to know what the Blues need to do next, there’s a pretty simple answer.
Just avoid everything they did after their first Challenge Cup triumph in 2010!
In some ways that was an even more notable success, given they were rank outsiders going into the final against star-studded Toulon in front of a partisan French crowd in Marseilles.
They defied all the odds to win 2821 and become the first Welsh side to lift a European trophy. They looked to be a team really going places.
But within a couple of years it had all turned to dust, ushering in a dark period for the region.
If you trace what went wrong, there are a few key factors.
The Blues had a fine side, but it was an ageing one in parts and it required new blood to move on to the next level.
That meant investment and that didn’t come, with Welsh rugby entering an economically stressed time amid the introduction of the wage cap.
Within a year or so the trophy-winning side had pretty much broken up, with the likes of Martyn Williams, Xavier Rush, Maama Molitika, Ben Blair, Paul Tito and Deiniol Jones coming to the end of their careers and key midfield man Casey Laulala moving to Munster.
These were pivotal figures and they were not replaced with players of the same quality. The consequences were inevitable.
By 2011, the architect of the success had gone too, with director of rugby Dai Young heading for Wasps, leading to a time of turmoil on the coaching front, with five different regimes in the space of four years. And then there was the ground. The Blues had moved from the Arms Park to Cardiff City Stadium in the summer of 2009 with the idea of maximising the growing support which success on the field was bringing.
But the new base became increasingly unpopular with supporters, who felt it was soulless and lacking in a rugby feel. Basically, it wasn’t home.
Crowds dwindled as results did and it was to prove a disastrous and very expensive exercise, with the Blues having signed a long-term lease with Cardiff City from which they had to extract themselves at a cost when they opted to return to the Arms Park in 2012.
So there you have it. That’s what not to do next. But what should they do?
COACHING CONSISTENCY
When I mentioned on social media that I was going to write an article on how the Blues should build on Bilbao, I received some interesting suggestions from fans.
My favourite one was: “Lock Danny Wilson in the Jack Matthews bar!”
There’s a real sense of sadness among Blues supporters that Wilson is moving on to Wasps, given what he has achieved over the last three years.
He came with a plan and he has executed it, developing a group of players and a style that wins rugby matches.
His final triumph was his greatest, especially as his team looked dead and buried at half-time as they trailed 20-6 to Gloucester at the San Mames Stadium.
Whatever he said during the break needs to be bottled, patented and copyrighted pretty damn quick.
It is a huge shame he is leaving the Blues and Welsh rugby because we need quality coaches in our game.
But he made his decision a long while ago and he was never going to change his mind.
The combination of a torrid time last summer, when he had to release marquee signing Francois van der Merwe for financial reasons before he’d played a game for the region and faced the prospect of having to let more stars go, plus the budget he was presented with for next season resulted in him turning down a new deal and that was that.
His assistant Matt Sherratt also chose to leave and his contribution should not be underestimated.
It was there for all to see with the grubber-kicking tactic that turned Friday’s final on its head, and he has forged the back division into a highly potent unit. The Ospreys have a good man heading their way.
All of which means major changes on the coaching front at the Arms Park.
After a lengthy search, which saw the likes of Geordan Murphy, Jim Mallinder and Chris Boyd all in the frame, the Blues bosses finally opted for Mulvihill as the replacement to Wilson.
Mulvihill has certainly been operating in relative obscurity in Japan for a number of years. But high-profile players who worked with him during his time at Western Force have nothing but praise for the man, with the likes of Matt Giteau and David Pocock warmly singing his praises.
He certainly talks a good game and I was encouraged by the emphasis he placed on skill and letting players express themselves, as that looks a good match for the footballing talent at his disposal and the type of running rugby best suited to the fast artificial surface at the Arms Park.
It’s important he gets the right men around him and the signs are promising on that front, with one of Wales’s most gifted young coaches, Jason Strange, having already been installed to take care of the backs and former Ospreys back-rower Tom Smith expected to work with the for-
wards, while Richard Hodges will be able to continue the fine work he has done in defence.
Having coaches with knowledge of the Welsh game and youthful enthusiasm should hopefully serve as a good counterpoint to seasoned Aussie Mulvihill.
If the Wilson years have taught us anything it’s the importance of consistency and stability on the coaching front.
The last thing the Blues need is to go back to the days of chopping and changing on the coaching front.
PLAYER RECRUITMENT
It was very telling when I sat down to put together the Ins & Outs for the Welsh regions last week.
While there was plenty of activity to record elsewhere, that wasn’t the case with the Blues.
In fact, the “Ins” column didn’t feature a single name!
Now it’s fair to say the focus over the last six months has been very much on retention first and foremost.
Chief executive Richard Holland set out with a long list of out-of-contract players he wanted to keep hold of and he has managed to tick them all off, pretty much.
In particular, retaining the likes of Ellis Jenkins — a big target for the Ospreys — Rey Lee Lo, Seb Davies and Josh Turnbull have been hugely important. You also have a group of young players who have been given their opportunity by Danny Wilson and taken it, the likes of Davies, Jarrod Evans, Owen Lane, Tomos Williams and Garyn Smith.
It means there is a core of youthful talent around which the team can be built for the long term, along with more experienced players who still have plenty of years ahead of them in Gareth Anscombe, Josh Navidi, Kristian Dacey, Lloyd Williams, Matthew Morgan and Olly Robinson, not forgetting Sam Warburton.
So the foundations are there, but those still need to be reinforced with four or five quality recruits in particular positions.
With Alex Cuthbert moving to Exeter, the back three needs supplementing. It looks as though Walesqualified South African Carl Meyer is on his way from the Dragons, although there could yet be a further addition in that department.
The Blues suffer from only having two players on WRU dual contracts in the shape of Warburton and Anscombe. Extending that contingent is probably the best solution all round, especially if it saw the likes of Exeter tight-head Tomas Francis and highly-sought Sale No. 8 Sam Moore come on board.
That’s obviously easier said than done, with extracting players from contracts always a challenge, but it would certainly be just what the doctor ordered.