Llanelli rugby historian Les Williams still remembers the headmaster at his old school announcing the result of a match against Coleshill Secondary Modern: “Our boys six points, Phil Bennett 27.”
The point was, chuckles ex-Stradey Secondary Modern pupil Les, the young Benny was winning games on his own.
“He was an incredible rugby player, as good as he was modest," he says. “At the time, there were so many good fly-halves about. But Phil was a once-in-a-generation player.”
Welsh rugby still produces some good fly-halves but former England and Lions wing Ugo Monye asked on a podcast this week who would be the No. 10 coming through in Wales and there weren’t a rush of names coming back. The question could be asked how it has come to this.
Rewind seven years and Sam Davies looked set fair for a long international career. A previous World Rugby junior player of the year, he could orchestrate play and had an elite kicking game that could secure swathes of territory for his side. “He kicks with Johnny Sexton’s sort of variety and loves to play on the gain line, where defenders have less time to operate,” enthused Stuart Barnes at the time, while raising the possibility of the then Osprey touring with the Lions in New Zealand the following year if things continued to go well.
History tells us Davies didn’t tour make that tour and hasn’t played for Wales since 2017. He has banked a lot of experience since those early days and is presumably a better player, adapting his play as the sport has developed, but he is rarely mentioned as a fly-half option for Wales these days. At 29, he is in the prime of his career, but what he has to do is hit a purple patch for the Dragons and make it impossible for people to ignore him.
Jarrod Evans is a player who has rare attacking gifts, but Wales seem to have found reasons not to pick him rather than fully explore the case for selecting him. Evans can open a defence with a shimmy or a trademark double pump and has a brilliant short-kicking game. You would have thought a side low on creativity would want to at least have the option of tapping into such qualities. But the Cardiff man is 26 now and has started just two Tests. Unless there is a change of thinking, his situation doesn’t look as if it will change any time soon, while his seemingly imminent move to England will place him off limits under the new 25-cap rule.
Callum Sheedy is a year older than Evans but finds himself out in the cold, while Rhys Patchell is 29, Owen Williams is 31 and Gareth Anscombe is 32 in three months’ time.
Quite who will be Wales’ 10 after this year's World Cup remains to be seen, then. Maybe Dan Biggar will continue — who knows? Whoever it is will have to be able cope in a Test rugby environment where fly-halves are targeted.
“Fifty percent of the game is defence,” said Sam Warburton this week. "When you are at club level, it’s okay, you can get away with it, but when you are playing against Ollie Lawrence, you need to have someone who can stop him. If a 10 is going to give the opposition eight weak contacts, attack just opens up. I’m not saying you have to be a Jonny Wilkinson hitter, but you need to have parity.”
The message was clear: the modern fly-half has to be able to defend. Without that ability, you can forget about Test rugby.
Some will point to Finn Russell and question whether he is in any way a barricade in navy blue. They will point to his magician’s skill with the ball and say picking him is a statement of intent by the coaches, a positive call that puts the onus on opponents to defend against him. We’ll just put that out there.
Longer term, who are the young players who could one day emerge as significant players in the Wales No. 10 stakes? There are a few:
Joe Hawkins
“He is a really tidy footballer,” Warren Gatland said after picking him for the Six Nations opener against Ireland. “Neil Jenkins thinks potentially he will be a 10. He is an option there, he has played there before and he has a lot of those skills.”
Of course, Wales have been playing Hawkins at inside centre and he has shown up well (you can read more about him here and the video that so impressed his mates).
At 6ft and 15st 5lb he is a unit who can defend, and he can pass and has a big kicking game.
“Joe reminds me of Anthony Clement,” said Aberavon RFC coach Jason Hyatt. “Like Clem, he has some nice handling and running skills but he can also boot the ball a long way.
“He was going to play for Aberavon a year or two ago but the game was called off and that was disappointing because I was looking forward to seeing him play. But I watched him play fly-half in U18s rugby for the Ospreys and he was impressive. He led the side well and put a big stamp on the game.”
With Gareth Anscombe is continually linked with moves outside Wales for next season and Stephen Myler expected to move into coaching, there could be opportunities at 10 for Hawkins if he and the Ospreys want it to be that way.
Will Reed
Sixteen months ago, RGC 1404 team boss Ceri Jones didn’t hesitate when asked to name the Welsh Premiership player he rated the highest.
"It's quite simple for me," he said at the time. "Will Reed has been exceptional for Newport. He’s a player to look out for.”
Jones said he had been pleased that Reed wasn’t playing when the two sides had met weeks before.
Reed is still learning the game — of course he is —but when he played for the Dragons against the Ospreys in Swansea towards the end of last season he inspired a fine display of attacking rugby from the visitors by not only making good decisions but executing plays with skill and maturity.
“He’s a very good player,” said Scarlets academy skills coach Paul Fisher. “When I saw him play last year, he seemed to have a lot going for him.”
Playing alongside the talented Matt O’Brien at Newport has undoubtedly helped, and the Dragons feel they have quite the talent in the making, with head coach Dai Flanagan calling Reed a natural leader. You’d expect him to come through.
Dan Edwards, Aberavon RFC
Hailing from Cwmavon, the current Wales U20s fly-half is part of the Ospreys set-up having played club rugby in the Welsh Premiership with Aberavon and Swansea.
The astonishing 20-metre flicked pass out of the back of a hand to set up a try against England in the U20 Six Nations underlined that he is a player who isn’t afraid to try the unexpected.
“He’s an outstanding prospect who has all the attributes to play professional rugby and eventually figure at the highest level," Aberavon coach Jason Hyatt said.
“When he came to us he was only 18 and carried the water in one match. I had a word with him and he said he knew he had to earn his place. I just like his attitude. When he made his competitive debut, he was man of the match. Not only can he run play, he also has a touch of flair about him and plays with freedom. He’s a player we are going to be hearing a lot about.”
Harrison James, Cardiff
He once nailed a goal-kick from around 60 metres. But he can play a bit in general play, too.
“I have watched him a couple of times and he’s been impressive,” said Hyatt. “He has a kick like a mule.”
Sam Costelow
Don’t forget that this lad is still only 22, notwithstanding that he has banked a lot of game-time with the Scarlets this season. He has electric pace over 20 metres and is willing to tackle.
Like Hawkins, he has already had a taste of the international environment. Like the Ospreys man, he is set to be involved in the future as well. The Scarlets are developing him nicely.
Steff Jac Jones
He’s also in the Scarlets set-up and younger than the others on this list. But in west Wales they have hopes that he will emerge.
“He’s a typical west Wales fly-half who has good distribution and likes playing with ball in hand," said Paul Fisher. "He played a bit of football when he was younger, so he has a nice boot on him. He’s a similar player in many ways to Sam Costelow, a cheeky chappie 10, a player who’ll have a go and play from anywhere, with a bit of flair.
“Of course, he’s very young and has a lot of learning to do. But he’s in the Wales U18s group and he’s had exposure with our seniors on three of four occasions. He’s continuing his education at Hartpury and is a player with talent.”
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