Ireland v Wales: Gatland’s team will challenge Ireland differently to others in Six Nations opener (via IrishTimesSport )
I could feel for the players on the field, having to deliver a game plan that nobody had any real faith in. Did they ever believe that winning was a possibility? Their body language said otherwise.
I have been lucky in my career that in almost every season we were in the hunt for silverware and having something to play for is crucial as a professional sportsperson. I cannot comprehend what it is like to be a player in a team that is confined to the bottom half of the table whose season is effectively decided by January, with no possibility of challenging for honours.
Money can’t compensate for everything. There appears to be no quick fix, and rather than the clubs being in step with the national team, they merely act as a mechanism for Welsh national team selection. It’s been the elephant in the room, everyone knows it’s there, but no one has yet figured out how to successfully manage it.Once the national team performs it seems that the Welsh Rugby Union tolerates the continued underperformance of the clubs. It’s gone on for too long to argue otherwise.
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