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Ryan strikes right note for tour de force
Sunday Mirror, May 11, 2008 by PHIL BENNETT
RYAN JONES must rally his troops for one last, massive effort when the Wales squad to tour South Africa is named next week.
The skipper who led his side to the Grand Slam only a couple of months ago has a critical role over the next few weeks.
It would be very easy for the mood to alter within the Welsh camp - for confidence to be replaced by anxiety, for bold adventure to give way to inhibition.
The excuses are all there, pretty much in the way they always have been for teams from this part of the world when they travel south for summer tours.
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It's been a long, gruelling season; players can feel jaded; the Tests are far away from the home comforts of the Millennium Stadium; the matches are played at altitude; there is a long sick list of players who have been ruled out.
But what Ryan and the management must do is refuse to allow any player to reach for these excuses. The conviction and self-belief we saw in bucket-loads through the Six Nations have to continue.
I have to say I was delighted to hear Ryan talking the other day about opportunities, rather than difficulties.
He could have reeled off the names of all the blokes already injured and out of the squad - key players like Mike Phillips, Gavin Henson, Dwayne Peel, Martyn Williams and Lee Byrne.
He could have banged on about fatigue and how the structure of the season always undermines the chances of taking the strongest possible squad on these trips.
But he didn't. He said Wales were European champions and they would go to the home of the World champions and give them a real going-over.
I liked that. It reminded me of the stuff Warren Gatland was saying before Wales went to Twickenham for the opening match of the Six Nations.
No one gave Wales much of a prayer, but Gatland said he expected to win, he didn't give two hoots about the "Twickenham factor" and he even got stuck into England by rubbishing a few of their players. Wales need the same approach before they go to South Africa.
Let's make them fearful and anxious, not us.
After all, their domestic game is in a mess with threats of Springbok player strikes, they have a new coach in Peter de Villiers who is under massive pressure to prove he's not a lapdog of the politicians, and they haven't played a game since November.
I was in South Africa when Wales toured there in 2002 under Steve Hansen and there were moments in both Tests when you felt the Springboks were vulnerable.
But that Welsh side lacked self-belief. It didn't think it was strong enough to land the killer blows.
With a Grand Slam in the locker, that shouldn't be a problem for this squad. They have beaten England and France recently - World Cup semi-finalists - why not the team that went on to win it?
Yes, there will be no Byrne - but that gives a chance for someone like Matthew Stoddart, the best attacking full-back in Wales this season.
Yes, there'll be no Phillips or Peel, but it gives opportunities to a kid like Warren Fury to stake his claim, or for an old head like Gareth Cooper to show he can still cut it, too.
In the past Wales would have looked for reasons why winning on tour was beyond them. I'm hoping those days are gone.
Interview: DAVID WILLIAMS
Copyright 2008 MGN LTD
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