Neil Jenkins hails Gatland impact on overhauling Welsh rugby’s mindset

Wales used to approach World Cups with hype rather than expectation. No major union has failed to qualify for the knockout stages more often but, as Warren Gatland takes his players on a final march 12 years after taking charge following a ruinous tournament in France, making the quarter-finals will not prompt an explosion of champagne corks.

Only winning the final will satisfy Gatland, whose final Six Nations campaign this year yielded a grand slam. Wales are on a record run of 14 consecutive Test victories and have climbed to second in the world rankings behind New Zealand; victory on Sunday against England at Twickenham would take them top, after the All Blacks lost 47-26 to Australia on Saturday.

“Before Warren’s arrival we were very inconsistent,” says Neil Jenkins, who is preparing for his sixth World Cup and fourth as a coach. “We would win a championship one year and lose every game the next. Now we demand more of ourselves and expect to win every game whoever we play. I love that about this setup. Gats has been unbelievable; a good man whose message is to work harder than the opposition. He knows something about every aspect of the game and keeps you on your toes. He wants to be the best and we follow him.

“I am not going to be disrespectful to the other teams in our World Cup group or the tournament itself by saying what would mark a successful campaign. I have been involved enough to know that you look no further ahead than your first game, which for us is against Georgia. We have four matches before then and I am reluctant to call them warm-ups because playing both England and Ireland home and away will mean full-on encounters, not friendlies. We have to ensure we hit the ground running in Japan. You can train as much as you want but, if you are not playing, you don’t have a clue.”

Wales have under Gatland enjoyed their most successful period since the 1970s, winning three grand slams and four Six Nations titles as well as reaching the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup when they lost to France after playing the last hour with 14 men. Yet they are not ranked among the leading contenders by bookmakers for the World Cup, with New Zealand, England, South Africa and Ireland all having shorter odds.

“We could have won another two Six Nations, made the 2011 World Cup final and got to the semi-finals four years ago,” says Jenkins, Wales’s record points scorer who is the only one of the management team who will be part of the setup under Gatland’s successor, Wayne Pivac, next year. “We always demand more of ourselves.”

The role of a kicking coach, which was marginal when Jenkins started in the middle of the previous decade, is now central. “There is not much space at Test match level and you manipulate it by kicking,” he says. “When I was a player, we would have dozens of back moves but the decline in the number of set pieces has reduced them to the point where it is mostly about variations on the move.

“You have to understand defences and where the space is. That makes communication vital and players today have a fantastic feel for the game: they have to be able to react and make decisions on the hoof. Rugby union was designed for all shapes and sizes but at the top level today it is all about being lean and fit: props no longer carry much fat. The sport moves on. A couple of years ago it was a power game, all about being big and physical and dominant in the set pieces, but now it is mobile. Other than at set pieces there are no numbers on backs.”

No European team made the last four of the 2015 World Cup but Wales and Ireland are in the top three of the world rankings while England are fifth, a fraction behind South Africa. The All Blacks have held first place since 2009 but their hold on the top position is looking its least secure in that time. If Wales are to make an impact in Japan, they will need to improve on their tournament record against the major southern hemisphere sides, which is currently one victory (against Australia in the 1987 third-place play-off) and 10 defeats.

“Preparations for a World Cup are at a different level every tournament and every side will be ready to rock,” says Jenkins. “That is why the next month is important, starting with England. They have world-class players throughout their squad and strength in depth. They will be there or thereabouts in the World Cup. It is a big match for us.”

source: theguardian.com