Living in changing times difference as Welsh rugby
WE are living in changing times – and that will be more apparent in Welsh rugby this coming season than for a long while.
September always marks something of a fresh start. Nothing ever stays precisely the same. But in just over a week’s time there will be more new developments to scrutinise, on and off the field, than for some time.
So as the countdown continues to the 2018-19 campaign, we’ve taken a look at the things that are going to be different...and their possible implications.
THE PIVAC FACTOR
It’s likely that Warren Gatland and the WRU will want references to the incoming coach to be absent until the current regime ends after next year’s World Cup.
No chance. Naming Gatland’s successor more than a year before he will be in post comes with obvious pros and cons but like it or not, Pivac’s presence will loom large between now and then - regardless of his Scarlets responsibilities.
The heir apparent is going to be constantly asked for his opinion on the national team, and his methods at regional level constantly compared to what’s going on in the national set-up.
Gatland will recoil at any hint of interference, and Pivac will likely try to button his lip on matters Wales. Whether he’ll totally manage that is another thing. Whether he does or not won’t stop him being referenced by every Tom, Dick.
It’s a situation we’ve not seen before in Wales. How it plays out will be intriguing to say the least.
A DIFFERENT TV LANDSCAPE
Want to watch the regions in the Guinness PRO14? Well, unless you’ve been holed up with some Amazonian tribe for the last six months you’ll know that from now on you have to pay for the privilege - £9.99 a month.
Subscription channel Premier Sports, the new rights holders, went public with their plans to revamp coverage last week. Yet while they may have a few bright new ideas they haven’t exactly been creative in appointing personnel.
Basically they’ve raided BBC Wales for a presenter (Ross Harries) and pundits (Sean Holley, Martyn Williams and Shane Williams among them).
But if the people they’re using are tried and tested, the production operation isn’t - at least not in this competition.
Look, you can never please everybody when it comes to TV coverage of sport. No sooner does any high profile match begin than social media is awash with keyboard warriors sniping at commentators and analysers.
Yet given Welsh fans are being asked to pay over and above their licence fee for this for the first time, the scrutiny on Premier Sports is going to be forensic. Can they deliver slick programmes that do justice to the action and the main talking points of that action?
If they can’t, they’ll be pilloried. There’s massive pressure on all involved.
Finally, it will be interesting to see how the public buys into BBC Wales’ Friday screenings of the Welsh Premiership.
Yes there will be old rivalries on show, but the bottom line is that it will be semi-professional fare played in front of paltry crowds. Some cynics might claim that’s what we used to get with the PRO14 anyway.
A WORLD WITHOUT WARBURTON
It will feel strange when there is no Sam Warburton in the Wales camp this season, a little bit like it’s strange not to see Arsene Wenger on the touchline at the Emirates Stadium.
Warburton may not have been at the fulcrum of the national team for as long as Wenger was boss at Arsenal, but in terms of an individual leaving an indelible mark, his influence is certainly comparable.
And he WILL be missed, not just as a world class player but as a rock Warren Gatland could lean on, and the glue that would hold together the squad in tough times.
Warburton had his critics on social media, which he accepted with dignity. What odds those critics end up appreciating him far more than they ever did now he’s hung up his boots because of persistent injuries.
EXPECTATION ON THE DRAGONS
You used to be able to more or less cut and paste the pre-season forecasts for the Dragons.
With limited playing resources they’d struggle, was always the consensus, let’s just hope they can pick up a few league scalps and have a good run in the