Wales have become slow starters to international campaigns, the players needing time to take the step up from the regional game, but not in a Six Nations campaign after a World Cup when they regather a few weeks after spending five months together as a squad. They won the grand slam in 2008 and 2012 and on Sunday start their campaign in Dublin, as they did four years ago.
Wales took more out of the World Cup than any other side in the Six Nations – like Scotland, they lost their quarter-final to a late score – and their courage in the face of adversity after losing a virtual backline of players through injury was one of the enduring memories of the tournament.
As they prepare for a championship they have won three times under head coach, Warren Gatland, however, they are resolved to make up for an opportunity wasted three months ago when their matches against Australia and South Africa resulted in bungled opportunities translating into defeats.
“Ultimately, we have to be disappointed with the World Cup,” says the Wales second-row Alun Wyn Jones, who will finish the tournament on 99 Wales caps if he plays in all the rounds. “We did not want to use injuries as an excuse for not getting where we thought we would had everyone been fit.
“We know where we fell short and I hope we play some positive rugby to put that right and score tries, which we did not do enough of a few months ago. It is an exciting time for us.”
Jones believes the Six Nations will be interesting because so much has changed from last year. England and France are under new management, Ireland are without a number of players through retirement or injury, Scotland are armed with something more than hope for the first time this decade and Wales, while having a settled feel, are looking to change gear having named an attacking side for Dublin.
“I am a big believer that change is good,” says Jones, who turned 30 during the World Cup and last month committed himself to Ospreys and Wales on a dual contract despite offers to move to France or England. “Sometimes you cannot forego what works but we were forced to blood a number of players during the World Cup and that has given us strength in depth. The playing squad this week is different and we have a wealth of riches in terms of how we want to play and the way the bench is loaded.
“We have a side to attack and tackle and we can roll power off the bench. We have decision-makers in different areas and while we will stick to the gameplan, it means we can play with our heads up. Look at the space and opportunities we created during the World Cup: we just needed to finish and that is down to the players. We spent a lot of time together as a squad not so long ago and we have a lot of experience.”
Wales follow the Six Nations with a friendly against England at Twickenham in May and a three-Test tour to New Zealand, when they will become the first team to face the All Blacks after the departure of a trio of cap centurions who played in the last World Cup final, Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Ma’a Nonu. Wales’s style of play under Gatland, based on a strong defence, turnovers, getting over the gainline and aerial assaults, has proved effective in Europe but far less so against the might of the southern hemisphere; it is 63 years since they defeated the All Blacks.
“The game is at the stage now where referees are encouraging continuity,” Jones says. “There is a directive on offside at rucks and hands on the floor. We have Jérôme Garcès on Sunday and one of his stats is 70-30 against the defence for slowing the ball down. That is a good sign that he wants to see an attacking game.” Gatland pointed out during his team announcement that Garcès is not a referee who favours the home side; he was in charge in Cardiff a year ago when England won and again during the World Cup meeting between the sides at Twickenham when Wales prevailed.
Jones says: “Everyone was up for it on the final day of last year’s Six Nations when we all needed points. You have to operate in conjunction with referees. I think this is going to be a really interesting Six Nations but a question to be answered is whether too much rugby is being played here. I think a global season, moving it a bit towards summer, can only be a good thing from a playing and commercial point of view but it would take a massive shift and I do not know if it would happen in my career.
“I find it hard to believe that anyone could be playing regularly and saying they do not have a niggle. It is the nature of the beast, what you get when you play a lot of rugby; you have to get another niggle to forget about the one you already have. When we play and how much we play go hand in hand. The Aviva Premiership has 10 weeks’ solid rugby now and you wonder what it will all do for the quality of summer tours, play-offs and finals. It is where we are.”
Jones’s first appearance in the Six Nations was against Ireland in Cardiff in 2007, the beginning of what became a compelling duel with Paul O’Connell as the two established themselves as the leading locks in European rugby.
“I will probably miss Paul [who has retired from Test rugby] on the park but Devin Toner played alongside him for a few years and has been doing very well. Ireland’s dynamic will change without so many players but it is always difficult playing in Dublin, no matter who they have. Ireland are about the sum of their parts. Our last two games against them have been really intense and we have not forgotten what they did to us two years ago.”
