In a week’s time, all being well, Welsh Rugby Union CEO Abi Tierney will be able to bring the findings of the post-autumn review to the board, bringing to a close a dismal 2024.
Quite what comes of the latest in a long line of reviews remains to be seen, although the insistence from the Union from the very start is that it was nothing more than the standard post-campaign review that follows every set of Test fixtures.
When you’ve lost 12 Tests in a row, including a woeful autumn series that started with a first defeat to Fiji in Cardiff and finished with a total of 97 points conceded against Australia and South Africa, it’s hard to sell it as a run-of-the-mill review.
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There’s pressure on head coach Warren Gatland, among others, for example. The scrutiny has grown on Gatland after the worst run of results in the 143-year history of rugby in this country.
2024 has seen Wales finish the year without a Test victory for the first time since 1937 and drop outside of the top 10 in World Rugby’s rankings.
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At one point, in a short six-day turnaround between the Wallabies and Springboks games, it felt like Gatland and Wales were heading in one direction, towards a parting of some kind.
In truth, from even before the South Africa defeat, it had felt like the mood music had changed from Gatland’s despondency after the Wallabies hammering. Those within the Union talked up the Wales coach and his attributes, suggesting that there’s unlikely to be any change on that front before the Six Nations.
That’s maybe not helped by the seeming lack of options available. Scotland have played down Steve Tandy’s links to the job, Brad Mooar has been re-hired by the Crusaders and Ronan O’Gara said he wanted a top Test job, not the Wales one.
If the Union have put out any feelers for coaches, and there’s every chance they have now Gatland’s future is on the table, there’s no guarantee they’ll find too many candidates willing to take on the job.
However, that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be any changes whatsoever. Gatland’s coaching ticket, other than the re-introduction of Rob Howley following Jonathan Thomas’ departure last year, has been pretty much the same in the past two years.
Now, that’s no different to his first stint, where the bulk of his coaching staff remained the same for over a decade. But, results aren’t what they were back then, so something might need to change.
Making a change in the coaching ticket would be a simple way of shaking things up. There’s long been whispers about Alex King moving on, although never that substantial, so it could make sense in terms of getting some fresh voices in there.
Even if it’s appearing Gatland is more likely to stay than go, the board will still need to be convinced by the plan moving forward. Wales’ identity as a team this year has been muddled, to say the least.
From high-tempo basketball to a kick-pressure territory side, Wales have flitted between styles – seemingly wanting to have every string to their bow.
That’s probably not possible, and with reports of players wanting more detail from coaches, maybe it’s time to pick a lane with the playing group at hand and stick to it.
The whole high-performance department will also probably be looked out, with a final decision required on what happens there. If there is to be a departure, it could come here in the form of executive director of rugby Nigel Walker.
The former Cardiff wing survived the furore around Wales women’s contracts, but his bosses were, if we’re being honest, recently more effusive about Gatland stepping up to a director of rugby role than they were about their current director of rugby’s own chances in this review.
That doesn’t exactly bode well, although whether Gatland really has any interest in moving upstairs just yet remains to be seen.
It should, all things being well, come out in the wash next week.
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