THE NO.9 DEBATE IS JUST ANOTHER IN A LONG LINE OF WELSH RUGBY SELECTION HEADACHES
As Pivac looks at his options at scrum-half, we spotlight past selection issues for Wales:
NO-ONE – Wayne Pivac included – knows the identity of Wales’ first-choice scrum-half.
Tomos Williams started three games in the Six Nations, Gareth Davies started the other. And to add a touch more confusion to the dilemma, Rhys Webb would have worn the No.9 shirt for the finale against Scotland, only for the game to be postponed as the coronavirus pandemic began to take its grip.
The fight for the position promises to develop into a long-running saga, with each of the trio having their promoters and detractors.
Then again, Welsh rugby has previous when it comes to selection battles which have dominated column inches and bar-room debates.
Here are some of the most memorable.
DAVID BISHOP AND ROBERT JONES
We’ll start with this one, a classic 1980s battle between east and west.
Jones had been earmarked for the Wales side as the natural successor to Terry Holmes from the day he made his first appearance for Swansea as a schoolboy.
The Trebanos product was blessed with a silver service delivery which his fly-halves thrived on, giving them that extra split-second which helped allow them to control matters.
An excellent defender, despite his stature, Jones could read a game beautifully and was an expert boxkicker, never better evidenced than his display in the rain against England in Cardiff in 1989. He was the difference between the sides.
Not that everyone in Gwent saw it that way, mind.
If you resided in East Wales at the time, chances are you saw Jones as the obstacle keeping Bishop from his rightful place in the Wales No. 9 jersey.
Bishop could play, there’s no doubt about that. His pass may not have rivalled that of Jones – few could lay claim to that – but he was the ultimate Welsh rugby competitor of the time.
He was the heartbeat of the tough Pontypool side of the era, cajoling his pack, attacking opposition back rows and turning losing causes into victorious ones. He could run, he could kick goals and he could score tries. For fun.
At one point, the clamour in
Gwent for him to be picked by Wales grew so great that a newspaper handed a petition to the Welsh Rugby Union demanding the name ‘Bishop’ be included on the team sheet. His solitary cap – earned against Australia in 1984 – was scant reward for a player of his ability.
Jones, in contrast, won more than 50 caps at a time when that was a rare occurrence.
SAM WARBURTON AND JUSTIN TIPURIC
Tipuric spent far too long looking in from the outside.
Here was a forward with the skillset of a back. He knew how to draw defenders before giving a pass, he could create space for others with a deft offload and he could chip over defenders and win the race to the bouncing ball.
And he was none too shabby at the usual stuff opensides are meant to excel at.
Problem was, he found himself around in the same era as Warburton. And Sam was Warren Gatland’s man.
The New Zealander wanted him as captain and he wanted him in the No. 7 shirt. Nothing wrong with that. Warburton will rightly go down as one of the best opensides Wales have ever fielded.
He was a devastating tackler, supreme leader and was peerless at the breakdown. Just an excellent player.
So how do you fit both him and Tipuric into the same back row? Well, for large periods, Gatland didn’t. He preferred to go with Taulupe Faletau and Dan Lydiate as the players to complement Warburton.
Rob Howley showed it could be done when he took temporary charge in 2013, with Warburton switching to the No. 6 shirt. The result was the brilliant performance when Wales hammered England 30-3 in Cardiff, with both Warbur
ton and Tipuric earning rave reviews for their performances.
By the time Warburton’s career was drawing to a close, Gatland was naming both he and Tipuric in his team. Truly, it was easier than leaving one of them out.
Neither would have looked out of place in All Blacks sides. Really good All Blacks sides, at that.
PAUL THORBURN AND TONY CLEMENT
A battle which nobody saw coming.
Thorburn ended 1987 as a hero, the man whose last-minute conversion from the touchline against Australia had earned Wales a third-place finish at the inaugural World Cup.
By the following February he had been dumped from the Wales team in favour of a player who had never before played at full-back.
Swansea fly-half Clement found himself named in the No.15 shirt for the opening Five Nations game of the campaign at Twickenham as Wales coach Tony Gray went for all-out attack. It was the game of four flyhalves in the backline, with Clement named alongside Jonathan Davies at 10 and Mark Ring and Bleddyn Bowen in the centre.
The plan worked. Wales ran the ball from almost everywhere and Clement added an extra attacking dimension to the team. Adrian Hadley scored two tries and Wales won 11-3. Job done.
But Clement was ruled out of the next game against Scotland through injury, and Thorburn found himself back in. And in the next game against Ireland he landed a late penalty to give Wales a first Triple Crown in nine years.
To many, the Neath man had to play as his dead-eye right boot offered his side guaranteed points. But others felt that should be sacrificed in order to allow the free-running Clement his place.
Thorburn was later named captain, meaning the fight was stopped, with Wales sometimes accommodating Clement at No.10. But the Swansea man was back in place for the 1991 World Cup, and for the following few seasons.
NEIL JENKINS AND ARWEL THOMAS
Another east v west shootout, with the man from Pontypridd coming out on top.
Jenkins found himself thrust into the Wales team as a teenager, his debut coming in the 25-6 home defeat by England in 1991 which ended their winless run in Cardiff that dated back 28 years.
There have been more memorable debuts. Indeed, Wales failed to win a match in that year’s Five Nations and he was left out of the World Cup squad.
But it quickly became obvious that Jenkins was made of stern stuff and as he racked up the points at Sardis Road, so the Welsh selectors turned to him again.
He became a more than competent defender and distributed the ball excellently. But it was his kicking – aah, his kicking – that made him priceless in the eyes of many.
But he didn’t really do flair. And that’s where his critics stepped in and demanded Thomas get the nod at No.10.
He had already caused serious ripples in short spells with Neath and Bristol, but it was his move to Swansea – where he took over at fly-half from Aled Williams – that really got the motor going.
Thomas didn’t do defence in the same way as Jenkins didn’t do flair. But, man, he was exhilarating when he was on song.
He could dummy his way through defenders, sidestep his way through defenders or glide around defenders. It was a 1970s fly-half playing in the 1990s.
Trouble was, it all looked so easy, and when he missed a straightforward penalty or missed a kick to touch, he was accused of a lack of concentration. His critics were probably wide of the mark, but it raised doubts all the same.
Both had runs in the team, but Graham Henry’s arrival as coach spelt bad news for Thomas and it soon became obvious he preferred the solid and reliable Jenkins to his rival.
In a previous era it wouldn’t have even been a contest. Thomas would have held sway.
But Henry was a pragmatist, and didn’t give a hoot about the style and panache a player is meant to bring to the Wales No.10 shirt.
And by the time Jenkins had kicked the match-winning conversion that downed England at Wembley, the contest was largely over.