Wales have finished the calendar year winless for the first time since 1937 after they got battered into submission by South Africa in Cardiff.
There was plenty of effort and endeavour from this young Wales side who frustrated the world champions at times but there was only one winner in Cardiff. Due to the lowly state of the regional game, which has been allowed to rot over the past 15 years, the players are no longer adequately prepared for Test rugby.
It was men against boys for large periods of this game while Wales did not have the power, the pace, the size or the physicality to live with the world champions. At times in the first half, this was like a Rugby World Cup pool match between a tier one nation and a minnow like Romania or Uruguay, where the only relevant question was how many points would South Africa win by?
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While there is talent within this Wales squad, the majority of Gatland’s side have not learnt how to win at regional level, let alone in the international arena. It is illogical to expect players who are consistently losing at club level to suddenly become world beaters when stepping up to the international arena.
Arguably the main reason for Wales’ run of 12 straight defeats has been a lack of experience after many players moved on before and after the Rugby World Cup. To put things into context, South Africa had more caps on their replacements bench than Wales had in their whole matchday 23.
There were some positives for Wales, with Cardiff backrower James Botham outstanding, while Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake are high end international players. Botham and Morgan made 50 tackles between them but as a collective Wales missed 46 out of 216 tackles, which is not good enough at this level.
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Unfortunately Wales do not have players with the power of Malcolm Marx, Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert or Thomas du Toit, among others. The reality is Gatland has a whole lot of problems in need of fixing, including the lack of power and size in the pack, while the cupboard looks extremely bare at outside-half; a position in which Wales have historically produced some of the world’s greatest playmakers from Barry John to Phil Bennett.
Over the next few weeks the Welsh Rugby Union will do an in-depth review into Wales’ Autumn Nations Series campaign and the future of head coach Warren Gatland will be at the forefront of their discussions. Gatland, a man who coached Wales to so much success during his first stint in charge between 2008 and 2019, has presided over the worst run in Welsh rugby history with 12 straight defeats.
Such a wretched run of results should never be deemed acceptable and it is right that Gatland’s position as head coach is questioned. This is the reality of professional sport, where coaches are judged on results. The WRU will make a decision in the near future but contrary to popular belief they do have the finances to make a change should they decide that is the best way forward.
But unlike back in 2008, when Gatland replaced Gareth Jenkins with the Welsh game at a low ebb, only to turn them from World Cup flops to Six Nations Grand Slam winners overnight, there is no magic wand solution this time around. Whoever is at the helm of the national side this is a long-term project and there is certainly going to be significantly more pain ahead for Wales.
The WRU and it’s four professional sides – Cardiff, Dragons RFC, Ospreys and Scarlets – need to find a way to strengthen the regional game. It is no longer possible to have a successful national side without strong professional clubs underpinning it. Over the years this writer has lost count at how many times both parties have hailed some new partnership which was allegedly going to catapult Welsh rugby to a new level only for no progress to be made.
However, this time if they do not come up with a successful plan then Welsh rugby’s decline will be terminal. In the short-term Gatland’s future will be the talking point and whether the New Zealander is still in post come the start of the Six Nations is anyone’s guess.
