Wales urged to be flexible in quest for success

Aug 26 2008 by Simon Thomas, Western Mail

WORLD Cup winner Eddie Jones has warned Wales they will need to add more variety to their game to avoid suffering second season syndrome under Warren Gatland.

But the outspoken Aussie believes Gatland is the man to bring the best out of the instinctive natural talent at his disposal and build on the Grand Slam triumph.

Jones, who helped South Africa lift the Webb Ellis trophy last autumn having guided Australia to the World Cup final four years earlier, believes it’s always difficult for a coach in his second year in charge of a team.

And he feels this will be particularly the case for Gatland given the way his unfancied Welsh side took the Six Nations by storm in the spring.

“It’s going to be a tricky second season for them because everyone knows what they are going to do,” said the former Wallaby coach.

“Looking at them, they probably increased their fitness by about 10%. The incremental gain now will only be two or three per cent.

“They won’t get that massive increase again. With the defence as well, there are probably only tiny increments they can make. So they are just going to have to have more flexibility to their game and that’s going to be the hard thing for them.

“But the thing I like about Wales is they create good rugby players.

“They know how to play the game.

“Welsh players are very instinctive and I think Gatland will find the best of that and find the structure or organisation to bring out those instinctive skills of the Welsh players.”

Jones, who is now coaching Guinness Premiership outfit Saracens, has an obvious respect for New Zealander Gatland and for the remarkable job he has done with Wales.

“Gatland is a good coach. He gets them fit, he gets them committed and they play the same way,” he said.

“It was interesting watching the Six Nations and everybody talking about how it was the reinvention of the Welsh style of play, but they were the biggest kicking side in the competition.

“So it’s a very well-branded, sensible form of rugby. I think they played very well.”

Jones believes this autumn will provide a real litmus test for European champions Wales, who take on South Africa, New Zealand and Australia in quick succession at the Millennium Stadium in November.

“The Tri-Nations challenge will be very, very strong,” he said.

“Australia are definitely on the way up. They have got good young players coming through and are well coached by Robbie Deans.

“South Africa still should be the best side in the world. You just look at the talent they’ve got, although they are going through their own evolutionary phase where they are trying to decide between what the players do and possibly what the coach wants to do.

“New Zealand are always strong. They’ve got so many players over here, but they still produce many players.

“So it will be a real test for Wales to see where they actually are. Obviously going out to South Africa was a bit of an eye-opener for Welsh rugby in general. Now the autumn Tests are going to present that opportunity to see how far they have advanced.”