Overview
It says everything about the wilting Welsh challenge that they are about 45/1 or 50/1 to win the Six Nations title they claimed just four years ago and they enter the lions den of the Stade de France for Saturday’s opener against Antoine Dupont and co at odds of 25/1 to win their opening match. Those odds do not look remotely tempting, even for Welsh supporters.
The list of players who’ve retired, at least from Test rugby, since they last claimed a title represents the passing of a golden generation. Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Jonathan Davies, Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb, Gareth Davies, Ken Owens, Thomas Francis, Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Lydiate have all quit since being part of that 2021 triumph, when Wales were denied a Grand Slam in the last play of the last game in Paris.
It always felt like Warren Gatland’s gilded first era as Welsh coach masked the problems at regional level, and ditto when Wales beat Fiji and hammered Australia to top their World Cup pool, capitalising upon a favourable draw. And so, it’s come to pass.
Beginning with their quarter-final loss to Argentina in a game they looked well placed to win, Wales have lost a record 12 matches in a row as they ended a calendar year winless for the first time since 1937.
But Welsh rugby looks to be reaping what the WRU and regions have sown for years. After years of overspending and a loan to bail out the regions after the pandemic, this is the second season since their annual budget was slashed virtually overnight from up to £8 million (€9.5 million) to £4.5 million.
In light of the massive cut in players wages, there are now more than 90 Welsh players plying their trade outside the country and there are 11 non-Welsh based players in Gatland’s 34-man squad for the Six Nations.
It is a callow squad, with an average age of 26, featuring 17 players with seven caps or fewer, and a third uncapped player has since been called up to help with an injury crisis at tight-head, namely the 24-year-old Ospreys prop Ben Warren, after WillGriff John failed a HIA playing for Sale Sharks in their defeat to Bath on Sunday, thereby ruling him out of Friday’s opening night.
Other notable absentees include Max Llewellyn, Rio Dyer, Cameron Winnett and Taine Plumtree, Dewi Lake (a huge loss for the third Six Nations running after suffering a torn bicep in December), Ryan Elias, Adam Beard, Ben Carter, Archie Griffin and Mason Grady.
It tells us much that, 1½ years on from France 2023, Gatland retains only 15 of his World Cup squad, whereas Ireland retain 25 of theirs.
Taulupe Faletau (centre) has returned to Wales’s squad for the Six Nations. Photograph: David Davies/PA Wire
Gatland did welcome back Exeter lock Dafydd Jenkins, Cardiff pair Josh Adams and Taulupe Faletau – who has only played four club games since being injured early in the World Cup but is mustard keen on a fourth Lions tour – as well as Saracens fullback Liam Williams and Scarlets centre Joe Roberts.
But Gatland has omitted Gloucester’s Gareth Anscombe, and with Sam Costelow injured, Wales’s only options at outhalf are the uncapped 21-year-old Ospreys number 10 Dan Edwards and the Cardiff centre Ben Thomas, who has won only two of his seven caps with 10 on his back, specifically when performing creditably in the July Tests away to Australia.
It would be very Gatland-like to give a 21-year-old uncapped outhalf his debut in the Parisian Friday night furnace, although more likely he will opt for Thomas, who is a good passer, has a nice kicking game and has the physicality of a 12, which the coach admires.
Player to watch: Jac Morgan
The tough 25-year-old Ospreys flanker is in the form of his life and looks like Wales’s likeliest British & Irish Lions player next summer. Consistently performs outstandingly, be it his work over the ball at the breakdown, his carrying or his tackling. In the Ospreys’ Challenge Cup win away to Pau, Morgan made 30 tackles.
Title odds: 45/1.
Last three finishes: 4th, 5th, 5th.
Fixtures: Friday v France, Stade de France (kick-off 8.15pm Irish time); Saturday, Feb 8th v Italy, Stadio Olimpico, Rome (kick-off 2.15pm Irish time); Saturday, Feb 22nd v Ireland, Principality Stadium, Cardiff (kick-off 2.15pm); Saturday, March 8th v Scotland, Murrayfield (kick-off 4.45pm); Saturday, March 15th, v England, Principality Stadium (4.45pm).
Prospects: Gatland received a vote of confidence from the WRU after a dismal Autumn Nations campaign featuring home defeats to Fiji, Australia and South Africa but with the caveat that he “has been challenged to bring success”.
But what constitutes success? Two wins would almost seem to be the stuff of fantasies and one victory would be progress on last season. It’s just hard to see where that will come from. Rome in round two perhaps, but Italy will be slight favourites in that game, especially after winning in Cardiff last season.
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2025-01-28 09:10:22
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