Wales heroes have earned rest – Young

Mar 19 2008 by Simon Thomas, Western Mail

BLUES boss Dai Young has handed his Wales Grand Slam heroes a well-deserved break as he puts his faith in the strength of his squad for Friday night’s derby against the Scarlets.

Martyn Williams, Tom Shanklin and Gethin Jenkins have all been rested for the Magners League trip to Stradey Park following their exertions during the Six Nations.

“In fairness to them, they have played every game in the championship and they deserve their rest,” said Young.

“They have figured for the huge part of the Grand Slam and they need that rest, both physically and mentally.

“It would be a little bit of an indictment on our squad if we felt we had to rush our grand slammers back really.”

Young says the Six Nations clean sweep by Warren Gatland’s team, which his Arms Park stars contributed to, will benefit everybody in Welsh rugby.

“Success like that has a massive impact,” he said.

“I thought it was a great effort by the squad and the whole coaching and management team. What it has done is put a smile on everybody’s face.

“It trickles right down and we all feel a lot better about Welsh rugby as a result.

“It’s made everybody a little bit happier about themselves and we’ve realised that we do a lot of things right in Wales.

“We did a lot of soul-searching after the World Cup and there was a lot of doom and gloom, but I don’t think everything was wrong.

“We do a lot of things well and, with a little bit of tinkering and a little bit of direction, things have come right.

“Fair play to Warren and his coaching team, they have focused minds.

“The players have got to take a big tap on the back as well because they have really stood up and taken responsibility. The performances have spoken for themselves really.

“The players and the coaching staff have got to take the credit, but it makes us all feel a bit better about ourselves and makes us realise we are perhaps not as bad as people thought six months ago.”

Young says the key for Wales now is to build on the Grand Slam success and avoid any repeat of the decline that followed the 2005 triumph.

“I think we’ve learned from that,” he said.

“It’s not far off the same group of players, but I think the players now are strong enough characters to realise that things can change very quickly.

“As quickly as we’ve turned failure into success that could happen again.

“But they have a real determination now to make sure that we kick on from here.

“You look at that Wales squad now and you can see it competing and doing a great job for the next number of seasons.

“Hopefully as regions we can keep improving as well.

“Everyone is looking to raise the bar and push standards up.”

Young has made three changes to the side that recorded a thrilling last-gasp victory over Munster three weeks ago, with fly-half Nick Macleod, hooker Rhys Thomas and lock Scott Morgan coming into the starting line-up.

There’s a welcome return on the bench for Aussie centre Marc Stcherbina, who has been out since September with a serious shoulder injury, and fly-half Dai Flanagan, now recovered from a fractured bone in his hand.

The Blues lie second in the league, eight points behind table-topping Leinster, with the Scarlets a further two points back in third.

“There are a lot of points still to be won and lost,” said Young.

“We have obviously got to hope that somebody can knock Leinster over.

“Whoever loses at Stradey on Friday night has got a mountain to climb.

“They would really have to go some to turn that deficit around then.

“Our focus is to win the league and we’ll be fighting right until the end.”

Blues: Ben Blair; Jamie Roberts, Jamie Robinson, Gareth Thomas, Tal Selley; Nick Macleod, Richie Rees; John Yapp, Rhys Thomas, Gary Powell, Deiniol Jones, Scott Morgan, Maama Molitika, Xavier Rush (capt), Robin Sowden Taylor. Replacements: Tauf'ao Filise, Gareth Williams, Mark Lewis, Ben White, Jason Spice, Dai Flanagan, Marc Stcherbina.

Referee: Tim Hayes (WRU)