Wales returned home from South Africa in 1998 not so much with a report card to ponder as a template for how not to tackle a rugby superpower in their own backyard.
Colin Charvis raged at some of those who had skipped the trip, coach Dennis John said that unless attitudes changed “the boys who are sitting back in the comfort zone may as well leave their kit off and go and play cricket”.
Some of the absentees had genuine reasons for not being on tour. But with 18 players off limits and a further eight injured during the trek south, the exercise predictably turned into a spectacular misadventure, culminating in a 96-13 Test hiding.
