{"id":10339,"date":"2016-03-15T17:02:31","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T17:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=10339"},"modified":"2016-03-15T17:02:31","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T17:02:31","slug":"wales-at-a-cross-roads-and-must-change-the-steffan-thomas-verdict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/03\/15\/wales-at-a-cross-roads-and-must-change-the-steffan-thomas-verdict\/","title":{"rendered":"Wales at a crossroads and must change &#8211; the Steffan Thomas verdict"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AS the dust settles on a disappointing result for Welsh rugby at Twickenham, the calls for change are growing increasingly loud.<br \/>\nMany supporters are prone to knee-jerk reactions following a poor performance. However, this is not a new problem \u2013 discontent has been growing among the fans for the past two years.<br \/>\nWarren Gatland has presided over a largely successful period in Welsh rugby history since he took the reins in 2008. The former Wasps coach has achieved three Six Nations titles and reached a World Cup semi-final during his eight years as coach.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10342\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10342\" style=\"width: 368px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/gats.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10342\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-10342\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/gats-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"Gatland at a cross roads over Welsh way forward\" width=\"368\" height=\"221\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10342\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10342\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/gats-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"Gatland at a cross roads over Welsh way forward\" width=\"368\" height=\"221\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> <strong>Gatland is at a crossroads over the\u00a0way forward<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nHowever, the Welsh have only won twice against the Southern Hemisphere superpowers in eight years, despite a number of last-gasp defeats.<br \/>\nAccusations have been made that Gatland\u2019s game plan is too predictable, with the Kiwi\u2019s tactics having changed little over the course of his tenure.<br \/>\nThe better test teams are constantly evolving their way of playing the game, with the All Blacks varying their tactics on a match by match basis. The Welsh management have attempted to get their men to play a little wider this Championship, but in the main their game is based on dominating the collisions and winning an aerial battle.<br \/>\nWales were uncharacteristically lacking in energy against England, with the intensity that has been a hallmark of the Gatland era missing. Gatland and backs guru Shaun Edwards have transformed Wales into one of the better defensive sides in world rugby, but this strength was nowhere to be seen against England.<br \/>\nWales missed 18 tackles in a first-half horror show on Saturday, despite having missed only 17 tackles throughout the five matches of their World Cup campaign.<br \/>\nThe manner in which Wales finished the game on Saturday should be the blueprint for the next three years leading up to the 2019 World Cup. There is no need to reinvent the wheel as such \u2013 after all, every side must win the right to go wide.<br \/>\nHowever, Wales look far more effective when they play what is in front of them rather than sticking to a regimented game plan. The beautifully crafted George North try, which occurred courtesy of a Sonny Bill Williams-esque offload from Liam Williams, is a glimpse of what the Welsh back division is capable of.<br \/>\nGatland\u2019s track record suggests he is a fine coach, but make no bones about it: he is at a crossroads with this Welsh side.<br \/>\nHe can either stick to his guns and grind out a few decent finishes in the Six Nations or he can evolve Wales\u2019 strategy, adding more layers behind the scrum in order to create more attacking dimensions.<br \/>\nIt is perhaps unfair to single out members of Gatland\u2019s coaching team, given that the buck always stops with the head coach. It is clear, however, that inspiration behind the scrum is seriously lacking and the Welsh dressing room is in desperate need of fresh ideas.<br \/>\nGiven the surprisingly average basic skill levels, one has to consider the position of forwards coach Rob Howley. With the former Lions scrum-half out of contract following this summer\u2019s dreaded tour of New Zealand, Gatland needs to consider the direction that Wales are headed. If we take the weak performance of the Welsh pack on Saturday as an anomaly, then it is obvious that the attacking game is the area most in need of addressing.<br \/>\nDespite being in charge for 26 years, legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson made it a habit of refreshing his backroom team every few seasons to keep evolving his team\u2019s game.<br \/>\nGatland could do a lot worse than take a leaf out of Ferguson\u2019s book. The Kiwi coach has improved Wales tenfold since he took the helm in 2008, with the solid core of Wales\u2019 game plan making them at the very least, a difficult side to beat.<br \/>\nHowever, to take this team\u2019s potential to the next level, Wales must evolve their attacking game, or face the prospect of deteriorating over the next three years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AS the dust settles on a disappointing result for Welsh rugby at Twickenham, the calls for change are growing increasingly loud. Many supporters are prone to knee-jerk reactions following a poor performance. However, this is not a new problem \u2013 discontent has been growing among the fans for the past two years. Warren Gatland has presided over a largely successful period in Welsh rugby history since he took the reins in 2008. The former Wasps coach has achieved three Six [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[1291,2015,154,328,74,339],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-10339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rugby","tag-cardiff-2","tag-millennium-stadium","tag-rugby-2","tag-six-nations","tag-sport-2","tag-wales"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Wales at a crossroads and must change - the Steffan Thomas verdict - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/03\/15\/wales-at-a-cross-roads-and-must-change-the-steffan-thomas-verdict\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wales at a crossroads and must change - the Steffan Thomas verdict - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AS the dust settles on a disappointing result for Welsh rugby at Twickenham, the calls for change are growing increasingly loud. Many supporters are prone to knee-jerk reactions following a poor performance. However, this is not a new problem \u2013 discontent has been growing among the fans for the past two years. Warren Gatland has presided over a largely successful period in Welsh rugby history since he took the reins in 2008. 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