Matt Williams: Warren Gatland factor makes Wales a threat to Ireland
Cockerels roaming the Parc des Princes to the beat of Basque drums and the blare of trumpets.
At a time when Bledisloe Cup matches could be four years apart, the annual rhythm of the championship was as reviving to our rugby community as water being poured into the mouth of a traveller on a long desert crossing. While every secondrower had their heads taped up so tight they looked like a squeezed potato, hoping the strapping would press in some of Willie John McBride’s brilliance.
Like a hermit prophet from the Old Testament, Warren Gatland has been summoned from the rugby wilderness to lead his adopted people out of the desert of defeat and back into the Promised Land that all Welsh people passionately believe is their birthright. Winning matches in the Six Nations. In reality, the return of Gatland into the bosom of Welsh rugby should get Irish hearts beating with concern. The Welsh situation is best summarised by the American country singer Toby Keith who sang: “I am not as good as I once was, but I’m as good once, as I ever was.”
In 2023 it will look like a rugby Frankenstein. Brought back from the dead by its creator. Hurriedly stitched together with ill-fitting limbs and minus a fully functioning brain. While we can make fun of that outmoded way of playing, the essence is that the Welsh believe that Gatty’s plan can win matches. That means they can win.
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