The honeymoon that never was as Pivac walks the line between success and failure
THREE games into his Wales reign, Wayne Pivac could be forgiven for wondering what’s happened to the supposed honeymoon period a new national coach is supposed to enjoy.
Actually, it’s a myth that sweetness and light always prevails at the start of a Welsh team boss’ tenure.
The crockery was flying early in Gareth Jenkins’ time in charge as he presided over eight defeats in his first 10 matches, while others had the equivalent of the kitchen sink lobbed at them for less than auspicious starts.
Even Graham Henry had the occasional issue early doors, with setbacks against Scotland and Ireland prompting some to get their complaints in early about the new man earning big bucks while failing up to come up with at least three miracles before breakfast every day.
But it all changed for Henry when he reshaped his pack before his third Six Nations Test, told his players to be bold – and watched his side pull off a startling 34-33 win over France in Paris.
Mindset was key for that one. “We’re going out there to play a rugby match,” the recalled hooker Garin Jenkins said before leaving for the French capital all those years ago. “There’s no need to fear anyone. We’ll all be returning home. Noone’s going to be singing the Old Rugged Cross.
“We’re just going there to try to play our best rugby.
“Fear doesn’t come into it.” Barely a month later, Wales had beaten England at Wembley and Henry could barely move for back
slappers. One radio presenter in Wales was even said to be considering naming her new baby Graham Henry.
So far there are no reports of anyone wanting to call their offspring Wayne after the latest Kiwi to lead Wales, but, hey, it’s early days.
Henry turned things around all those years ago by powering up his forwards. But he had Peter Rogers, Ben Evans, Brett Sinkinson and Jenkins, a formidable scrummaging hooker, to call on.
Pivac has tried to stiffen his pack for the game in London this weekend, drafting in Rob Evans and Josh Navidi. But how match-sharp Navidi is we can only guess after just three outings this year.
And England will still look to test the Welsh scrum.
Warren Gatland’s legacy to Pivac was not insignificant, but it’s debatable whether he left behind a fit and gnarled No.3 to anchor the setpiece. Let’s be honest: he didn’t. Dillon Lewis is many things, an excellent breakdown operator and a willing defender among them, but even his most fervent admirers might concede he’s still a work in progress as a scrummager.
If he could come of age at Twickenham, it would be a huge boost to Welsh hopes. But the streetwise Joe Marler will provide him with a test.
Let’s return to the honeymoon that never was.
Pivac is discovering what so many Test coaches have learned before him, namely that the line between success and failure is paper thin.
Had Wales come out on the right side of key scrums against Ireland and France they could well have been heading into the England match still in the hunt for silverware.
Instead, they are looking to avoid a third consecutive Six Nations defeat, something that didn’t happen once in 12 championship campaigns under Warren Gatland.
Mind you, it would be a surprise if the sight of white jerseys didn’t galvanise the visitors.
Rewind to yesteryear when the man from the Daily Telegraph, the excellent Martin Johnson – the journalist not the player, who also did a fair line in excellence – felt moved to write after a Wales-England joust in Cardiff: “There’s nothing quite like a red shirt with a rose on to motivate a Welsh rugby team, and if the forwards indulged in the time-honoured motivational practice of butting the dressing-room wall before taking the field, the ferocity with which they began the match (and indeed finished it) suggested the gate receipts would only just cover the plastering bill.”
The trouble is, on occasions, not even the butting of dressing room walls has been enough for Wales at Twickenham. In three visits to the ground between 1998 and 2002 the visitors conceded 156 points, with the opposition fitter, faster and more skilful. When there are significant deficits on those fronts, the collective directing of heads at the nearest wall before kick-off gets a team only so far.
Indeed, Wales had gone 20 years without an away win in the fixture before Gatland revived their fortunes. A telling moment in that 2008 success came early on, as Andy Gomarsall tried to harangue Mike Phillips at a scrum. For his troubles, the Englishman received an elbow in the ribs. It underlined that Wales were not in town to be pushed around.
Those little dramas matter.
As do the words of coaches in prematch press conferences.
Pivac was ultra-diplomatic in his address to the media this week, while Eddie Jones merely suggested England owed Wales one after the defeat in Cardiff last year. By his standards, that was ultra-diplomatic, too.
He starts with 11 players who began in that game, including six of the pack who won just 35 percent of the possession. But Maro Itoje is back and he can be relied on to make a difference.
A stat has emerged suggesting the Saracen had claimed a turnover once in every eight tackles he’s made in this Six Nations. For the avoidance of doubt, that’s impressive.
Some might even call it sensational.
That said, a good enough team can stop their own ball being pilfered.
Leinster did it to the Scarlets, Tadhg Beirne, James Davies, John Barclay and all, in the Heineken Champions Cup semi-final in 2018. They did it through the excellence of their carrying, the speed of their ball-presentation and by uncompromisingly playing the Welsh side’s turnover brigade off the ball.
There should be lessons there for Wales.
They will look to Josh Navidi to add significantly to their breakdown operation. Dropping Taulupe Faletau is a big call, but it wouldn’t be the worst sight for Welsh eyes if the Lions Test man were sent on with 30 minutes to play.
There’s something else, too: if Faletau can be left out as a starter, then pretty much anyone can. Quietly, Pivac has sent out a message.
A damaging loss in London could see more changes for Wales’ final Six Nations game of the campaign, against Scotland, though Pivac needs to be careful his side don’t finish the campaign on a low and plunge further down the global rankings, with World Cup seedings being based on positions in the ratings come November.
Wales could help themselves by tightening their defence.
They are letting in tries they shouldn’t be leaking and the challenge is to return to their miserly ways while continuing to refine their attacking game.
It’s a difficult trick to pull off and their defence chief Byron Hayward could do with a weekend free of onpitch lapses.
The hope is, too, that there are no scrum palavas.
People have been pushing the rules to the limit at the set-piece since the late Jurassic period. The area is a lottery: always has been and always will be. Expecting order to prevail and everyone to scrummage straight is akin to hoping for gentlemanly conduct in a knife fight. If it happens, all well and good, but don’t bank on it.
Wales need to sort out on-field issues themselves.
But it’s asking a lot without the injured Tomas Francis.
To stand a chance of winning, the visitors need impeccable displays from their battery of big players such as Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Ken Owens, Ross Moriarty, Josh Navidi, Dan Biggar, Liam Williams, Leigh Halfpenny and George North.
They also need the support cast to come to the party.
And they need to stay composed during the big moments, while blunting the impact of key English players such as Manu Tuilagi, Itoje and Owen Farrell and coping with the immense front-five pressure they can expect to come their way.
It’s odds against and the hosts are deserved favourites, but it’s England v Wales.
Ruling anything out is a mug’s game.