NIGEL OWENS
‘YOU’D HAVE NEVER THOUGHT A GAY PERSON WOULD CAPTAIN LIONS AND A GAY REF PRESIDE OVER WORLD CUP FINAL’
THE identity of the next Wales head coach is being guarded with all the zeal soap opera script writers normally employ for keeping the climax of a particularly explosive story-line under wraps.
WRU chairman Gareth Davies said last week that the matter was being discussed only between him, chief executive Martyn Phillips and, presumably, the candidate or candidates in line to succeed Warren Gatland next year.
The secrecy of the process is not a surprise, but when the wait for white smoke to appear over the Principality Stadium finally ends – and we’ve been told that will happen this summer – it should not be allowed to mask the significance of a set of appointments arguably even more vital.
I’m talking about the assistants, the backroom staff, the right-hand men, the people who do the donkey work on the training paddock, the ones responsible for so many of the nuts and bolts necessary to complete with the best in the world.
Quick question: when Gatland leaves after the World Cup, what will become of his management team?
Rob Howley, Gatland has already revealed, will be seeking different opportunities elsewhere.
Shaun Edwards has already – with Gatland’s blessing – begun his job search. At present Wigan Warriors look his most likely destination, the bigger question being whether he will go before or after the global gathering in 2019.
Robin McBryde? Heaven only knows, but he isn’t being groomed to continue in the national team set-up.
Neil Jenkins? He’ll probably stay with the WRU but his influence on the Wales team will, you would expect, depend on the wishes of the new boss.
We’re looking, therefore, at a situation where none of the current support staff are involved directly in the post-2019 coaching regime. That’s not much to show for more than a decade of work on the international stage.
There will be the usual suspects who rejoice at the impending departure of Howley and McBryde, but whatever perceptions some may have of certain individuals the bigger picture is how badly a mass departure of Gatland’s inner circle will reflect on the WRU.
Succession planning is central to the strategic plans of most of the leading rugby nations. New Zealand, especially, have promoted from within.
Steve Hansen deputised for Graham Henry before his elevation but, quite apart from that, NZRFU rules insist that Hansen’s successor after 2019, if he goes, will have to be coaching in New Zealand by 2018 or to have at least three years experience coaching home-based teams within five years of the top job becoming available.
Ian Foster is tipped as the next boss of the world champions. What’s he doing now? Assisting Hansen.
Where will he be at the World Cup? Right in the thick of it.
The policy of continuity since 2007 has reaped huge rewards for the All Blacks. Yes it helps that they produce brilliant players, but World Cup wins in 2011 and 2015, having not triumphed since the inaugural tournament of 1987, suggest the missing piece of the jigsaw was found.
But continuity is a concept that appears to have largely passed the WRU by in the professional era.
Aside from ad-hoc caretaker responsibility on certain summer tours, only one Wales assistant coach has ever been handed the keys to the top job.
It’s 20 years since Henry’s Wales coronation, which of course amounted to something of a clean break with the Kevin Bowring reign.
When Henry went in 2002 his No.2 Hansen stepped up and stayed in situ for two years, but for all the good rebuilding work Hansen did his chance came courtesy of a knee-jerk reaction to a crisis rather than by any grand design.
Wales subsequently went from Hansen to Mike Ruddock to Gareth Jenkins to Gatland without promoting from within – Scott Johnson’s time at the helm was only ever a stopgap amid the carnage of Ruddockgate.
Fast forward to 2018 – or 2019 if you want – and history looks about to repeat itself.
Wales’ new coach will doubtless be highly competent, he will doubtless have a proven
track record and be from the upper echelon of his trade.
But he will effectively be going in blind, without the counsel of those who have already been inside the camp never mind those with 11 years experience of the environment.
It was illuminating when Gatland said on the recent tour of Argentina that Wales’ new coach must not be allowed to overshadow the World Cup.
You sensed it might have been the Kiwi’s way of expressing his frustration that the WRU plan to make the announcement so long in advance.
Yet in an ideal world the new boss would be at the World Cup himself, identifying strengths and weaknesses and formulating fresh ideas so he could hit the ground running on taking command in the aftermath.
Instead, Gatland appears to be sending the message ‘keep your nose out until I’m done’. Understandable from someone looking to go out on a high but counter-productive in terms of what Wales are left with when he’s gone.
So what, you wonder, is the WRU stance on assistant coaching appointments to work alongside Gatland’s successor?
Will he be given carte blanche to bring in who he likes? Or will he be told to appoint at least one person he – and the WRU – view as boss material come 2023?
Not only should it be the latter, but the governing body should do all it can to get Welshmen into such positions.
England have Steve Borthwick and Neal Hatley underneath Eddie Jones. Ireland have Simon Easterby as forwards coach. Whether or not any of those viewed as the next No.1 by their paymasters or not, they are options at the very least.
That no Welshmen are in charge of the regions 15 years after their inception is an appalling indictment on coaching pathways in this country during that period.
But the prospect of lock, stock and barrel change at national level next year is also deeply concerning.
If I was in charge of the WRU, I’d be telling the guy I was lining up for the hot-seat that the situation must be avoided in future.
I’d also be doing everything possible to get Dai Young and Stephen Jones to agree to join the staff after the World Cup to take charge of the forwards and backs respectively, and urging the next head coach to get on board with those appointments.
Whether the above two names would even want such opportunities remains to be seen, but Young and Jones are the foremost Welsh contenders to take charge of their country in the near future - in that chronological order.
Come 2023, Wales need a ready-made replacement to take charge and a transition that is far more seamless than this next one looks like being.
So while we wait with baited breath for the big appointment of the summer, what goes on around it in the months that follow is arguably just as critical.
It was illuminating when Gatland said on the recent tour that Wales’ new coach must not be allowed to overshadow the World Cup
DELME PARFITT