As the dust settles on Wales’ woeful display against Georgia, one has been left to reflect on just where it stands historically in terms of seismic shock defeats - and what next for head coach Wayne Pivac.
Having done this job for 30-plus years, I’ve had the privilege of reporting on some memorable days for Welsh rugby, but there have also been some pretty dark ones along the way. It’s the latter that have sprung to mind in the wake of Saturday’s 13-12 loss amid a performance that reached disturbing levels of ineptitude and passivity in the second half.
When I sat down to think of comparable catastrophes, there were two that really stood out for me - the home defeats to Western Samoa, at the 1991 World Cup, and to Canada in November 1993.
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Others will point to the 1988 loss at the hands of Romania in Cardiff and I can confirm that was a grim old occasion, having been stood on the East Terrace for it. But Wales had already been beaten 24-6 by the Romanians in Bucharest back in 1983.
In contrast, the Samoan and Canadian calamities were firsts, just like the Georgian experience. There was a similar sinking feeling sat in the Press box at the old National Ground for those two games, a sense of disbelief as much as anything.
Yet there’s an argument that Saturday’s shambles was even worse.
Come the 1991 World Cup, Wales had been ravaged by a haemorrhaging of talent to rugby league, while it is fair to point out that Samoa’s winning try was dodgy in the extreme.
As for the Canadian result, you can view that as a bit of a blip in that season - albeit a very painful one - as Alan Davies’ team went on to win the 1994 Five Nations just a few months later. You struggle to see Pivac repeating that feat, that’s if he’s still at the helm come the Championship.
Which brings us on to further historical context. Given what happened on the weekend, it’s instructive to look at the defeats that have led to Wales coaches departing over the decades.
Tony Gray was replaced after two 50 point thumpings at the hands of the world champion All Blacks out in New Zealand in the summer of 1988. That was despite him having secured a thrilling Triple Crown just a couple of months earlier.
Gray’s successor John Ryan, who sadly passed away last week, resigned in the wake of a 34-6 rout by England in February 1990, while Ron Waldron stood down on health grounds after a humiliating hammering off the Wallabies - 63-6 no less - the following year.
Then, in March 1995, Alan Davies, his assistant coach Gareth Jenkins and team manager Bob Norster resigned after a Five Nations whitewash - just 60 days before the World Cup out in South Africa.
For Kevin Bowring, it was a 51-0 “home” defeat to France at Wembley in April 1998 that spelt the end of the road, while Gareth Jenkins’ tenure as head coach abruptly concluded when he was sacked at the team hotel in Pornichet the day after the loss to Fiji in Nantes that saw Wales bow out at the 2007 World Cup at the group stage.
So these are the kind of results that see reigns cut short. Of course, it’s often not just down to one defeat but an accumulation of poor showings. That’s what leaves you feeling Pivac is in a very precarious position right now. During the course of this year, he has been on the bridge for a first home defeat to Italy and a first defeat anywhere against Georgia, performances that plumbed the depths. In all, his Welsh team has won just three of their 11 matches so far in 2022.
The one caveat to this, of course, is the year has also brought a historic first victory over the Springboks in South Africa. Now people will point to the ‘Boks having made 14 changes for that second Test in Bloemfontein, but in fairness to Wales they arguably played better still in the series opener at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld and were unfortunate not to pick up at least a draw.
In terms of Pivac’s plus column, you also have the 2021 Six Nations title to consider. Once again naysayers will point to Wales having been lucky in terms of opponents picking up red cards and over some key refereeing decisions. But a title is never to be sniffed at and they did play particularly well against England and in the last-gasp Grand Slam-denying defeat to France in Paris.
But the problem is Pivac’s team failed to kick on after that triumph and it’s been the same again after the landmark win out in South Africa. In both instances, they have actually regressed and particularly so this autumn.
The campaign opening 55-point implosion against New Zealand saw them found badly wanting in terms of physicality, while 24 missed tackles and eight tries conceded speaks for itself. They managed to arm wrestle their way to victory over Argentina and you hoped then they might be heading in the right direction again.
But the defeat to Georgia and, above all, the manner of the defeat pointed to something being very badly wrong within the Welsh set up. Remember now, this was no second string, as we have often seen in the past with games against Tier Two opposition. This was close to the strongest available team chosen by Pivac, the core of the side that will likely face Australia in the campaign finale.
Yet they delivered an increasingly wretched performance, failing to score a point after the 24th minute, amid a kicking strategy that just didn’t work, crumbling away abjectly in the decisive final quarter.
When you have the likes of Jamie Roberts talking about a lack of desire, with he and Sam Warburton dubbing the performance “unacceptable” during their punditry on Prime Video, you sit up and take notice. These are men of real stature, giving honest heart-felt opinions. They don’t say these things lightly, but they would have known it needed to be said.
Perhaps the comments which struck the loudest chord came from former captain Warburton when he asked: “Why aren’t the players motivated? Why aren’t they desperate? There must be some kind of deeper, underlying issues...something that we perhaps don’t know which is why they are not fully motivated at the moment.”
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That was the sound of a sizeable can of worms being opened. It raises all kinds of questions about just what is going on in camp and what the environment is like. What is the mindset and mood of the players at the minute? Are we heading towards that infamous “lost the dressing room” scenario? Are we maybe already there?
It’s hard to know for sure, but we will get a better idea from how the Welsh team responds against the Wallabies on Saturday. It’s not too strong to say they are playing for their coach’s future.
If they deliver another limp, lacklustre display and go down to a sizeable defeat against the injury-depleted guests from Down Under, then you have to think that Pivac’s position becomes untenable.
But, of course, there is a deeper malaise within Welsh rugby that I believe needs addressing even more urgently and that’s the way it is governed. Until that is resolved, with a separation of the administration of the amateur and professional game, the whole structure will remain built on sand and be vulnerable to collapse whoever is in charge of the national team.
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