Wales will face France in the final round of the Six Nations on Saturday with their former scrum-half Mike Phillips believing they should have chosen a different head coach after Wayne Pivac’s removal from the job.
No slavish cheerleading for his old boss from Spikey Mikey, then.
Warren Gatland was the Welsh Rugby Union’s choice to take over from Pivac and it is still only four games into his reign second time around.
But Wales have lost three of those matches, Phillips has doubts about the wisdom of the appointment and he isn't shy of airing them.
In a Q&A published on Midi Olympique Rugbyrama, the former Test Lion was asked if he saw the return of Gatland as a good thing for Welsh rugby. He replied: “It's a good thing for him.
“He has a good contract, with a lot of money at stake. He had a great time with Wales, it was he who won us three Grand Slams, but I think we should have chosen a different coach.
“No one is forever, you can't play or coach forever for Wales, you should have moved on.
“But the problem is not so much the coach's choice, the problem is how we got to this situation. The federation [Welsh Rugby Union] could have taken the best coach in the world but I don't think the team would have won more.”
Times have certainly changed. Phillips had a 71.25 percent success rate in the Six Nations, a record that’s up there with some of the greats from the 1970s. Many of his caps were won under Gatland, who oversaw four Six Nations title successes, including three Grand Slams.
But Wales have been unable to keep the pot boiling.
Their win over Italy last weekend eased some pressure, but they have still triumphed in only four out of their last 16 matches. There has also been chaos off the pitch, with players threatening to go on strike for the England game and ongoing unhappiness at the failure of the professional teams and the Welsh Rugby Union to sign off a satisfactory financial deal for Welsh rugby, with the prospect of pay cuts and job losses worrying all.
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Phillips notes that other countries have overtaken Wales and he is also concerned about the flow of talent that’s coming through.
“We spent almost a decade winning everything, with several Grand Slams in particular,” he said.
“I believe that the level of world rugby has increased. The top five nations in the world can fight each other, Georgia and Japan also come in at a good level. The times have changed.
“The most worrying thing for us is that the under-20 teams of Ireland and France have been leaders for a decade. Our team, on the other hand, [haven't won] a match in the 2023 tournament. The results are very poor. We cannot have a good national team in the future with such poor foundations.”
Ahead of the game in Paris against the French this weekend, how does Phillips assess Wales in this term’s Six Nations? It's no surprise that his answer doesn't come with a positive coating.
“Obviously very disappointing, especially because of what's happening off the pitch,” he said. “It's not a pretty sight… It really doesn't smell good for Wales. It's a bit of a mess, but I think players don't have to worry about that. Wales has really been weighed down by its problems.”
According to the former Scarlets, Cardiff, Ospreys and Bayonne player, part of the answer is to embrace the future and nurture the next generation: “We have to give a real opportunity to our young talents. We have been playing with older players for several years, which prevents the next generation from settling.
"We need to play a young fly-half, bring out centres and give them a chance by saying: ‘You have four years to develop and there will be no pressure.’
“The next four years will have to be used for this for Welsh rugby. They will lose matches but they will grow as the matches progress.”
He was asked if players such as “Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric or Taulupe Faletau need to take a step back to let Welsh youth speak?”
“Absolutely,” came his reply. “Taulupe Faletau will play his hundredth game. He was a fantastic player for 10 years but he comes to an end, like other players. It is up to young Welsh people to take matters into their own hands and lead the game.
"But I also see that there is a gap between this golden generation and the current youth. We don't have good enough 26 or 27-year-olds who can bridge those two generations. We don't have any because there has been poor management of the development of these players.”
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