Others share in Jenkins failure

Mar 2 2008 by Simon Roberts, Wales On Sunday

Chief rugby writer Simon Roberts looks at the question which has been occupying Welsh fans about the virtues of new coach Warren Gatland and his sacked predecesor Gareth Jenkins

IS WARREN Gatland really that good, or was Gareth Jenkins really that bad?

That question was aired throughout the pubs and clubs of Wales after the record victory over Italy.

Gatland’s three wins out of three in the Six Nations has stunned even the most one-eyed and parochial Welsh fan – but what does it say about his predecessor as Wales coach, the man dubbed ‘the People’s Choice’?

Comparisons between the hard-nosed New Zealander and the passionate Welshman are always going to be purely subjective.

And it would be easy to trot out the same tired sporting cliches about a ‘new broom’ and a ‘new coach with new ideas’ always having an impact.

But Jenkins was once a new coach. His new broom failed to sweep Wales to a single victory in his first three games in charge.

Yet they both have, or had, the same raw material to work with.

Barring the loss of a few senior players, there hasn’t been a massive turnover in the Wales squad since the World Cup .

The mischief makers, who lurk in the cowardly dark corners of Welsh rugby, are even suggesting that the absence of former captain Gareth Thomas has made the difference. Garbage.

That decries Alfie’s contribution to the national cause and undermines Gatland’s impact on this Wales squad.

It also allows those who took on Jenkins to abdicate themselves of their responsibility for his flawed appointment.

In fact, Gatland’s success is a damning indictment of them and, I am sorry to say, Jenkins.

Why couldn’t the most successful and respected Welsh coach of his generation do the same as Wales’ third Kiwi?

That’s a question only Jenkins can answer.

But is this a peculiarly Welsh failure or a failure of a rugby culture which always appears to allow itself to get caught up its own cul de sac?

I don’t believe it is a Welsh failure. The likes of Phil Davies of the Scarlets and David Young of the Blues have all the hallmarks of future Wales coaches.

In fact, they are more respected outside their own country than they are within.

That, I am sure, is something Gatland can identify with.

If Jenkins’ reign tells us anything, it reveals how soft our rugby culture has become.

Professional sport is all about mental and physical toughness, an uncompromising attitude, clear lines of communication, high standards, humility and, above all else, clarity.

Those are all qualities Welsh rugby has struggled to comprehend, let alone get to grips with.

Why? Because we are talking about a rugby culture dominated by amateurs. These are the kind of people who think an emotional team-talk is more important than teaching a youngster to pass off both hands.

It’s a culture based on compromise, politics and appeasement of the populist bandwagon.

Jenkins, through no fault of his own, is a classic symbol of that – as are those who supported him and now believe his failure was his, and his alone.

Jenkins is an honest man and I am sure, in his darker and more reflective moments, he would probably be the first to admit that the Wales job came a few years too late for him.

The problem is those who put him in that position don’t even accept that Jenkins’ failure, and Gatland’s success, is a damning indictment of them too.