Heard the one about the proud English World Cup winner for whom a Welsh victory at Twickenham would be great news? Step forward Josh Lewsey, currently employed as the Welsh Rugby Union’s head of rugby and busy shaping the next decade’s worth of red-shirted talent. Talk about divided loyalties.
Listening to Lewsey’s pre-game excitement – “It’ll be like the Royal Albert Hall” – the mind inevitably spools back to the great days he enjoyed in a white jersey. Even then he had a foot in both camps, via his Welsh mother and half-Welsh father. His dual heritage, he says, will allow him to “just enjoy the occasion” and retain some perspective.
“Because of my position I can be relatively objective. I consider myself English and I’m very proud to be English but I have Welsh ancestry too. That was the motivation to try and put something back into the game which has given me so much.”
His WRU role has taken him to the heart of one of rugby’s oldest arguments: are Welsh players more innately skilful than their English counterparts? The answer, it turns out, depends on your age. Lewsey has little time for those still transfixed by Phil Bennett or Gerald Davies. “With due respect you’re of a generation where you probably remember the 70s. The game has moved on and through the 80s and 90s there wasn’t a lot for Welsh rugby to shout about on a global level. Our challenge is to create that again.”
It is by no means a simple assignment. All sorts of factors contributed to the decline in Wales’s rich seam of playmaking talent – the teachers’ strikes in the 1980s, the decline of extra-curricular school sport, the loss of the old grammar schools – and the recent rise of Welsh football has intensified competition for the best athletes. Lewsey’s response has been to establish 80 combined school/club “hubs” to benefit all parties from the grassroots upwards. It is hoped that number will ultimately increase to 100, incorporating 90% of Wales’s clubs and 120,000 people.
The other ambition is to give Wales a better chance of outwitting their wealthier English neighbours. “England have got the largest player resource in the world by an absolute country mile. There are also some other differences in Wales. You only have to look at the amount of independent-school kids playing for England – there’s a different demographic.
“But what we’ve tried to do in Wales is use our size to our advantage. If you join the dots you can move pretty fast and effectively. Rather than worrying about what other people are doing you’ve got to make your product as fantastic as possible. That’s not just a challenge in Wales, it’s a challenge across sport because of the way society has changed. We’re in a competitive market and children will vote with their feet. We need to adapt accordingly.”
Over the coming years the 38-year-old Lewsey, who won 55 England caps, reckons opponents will start to see a different breed of Welsh player emerging at senior level. “In the last few years we have created a really fantastic culture in terms of strength of conditioning, analysis and physiologically. We’ve got to catch that up by producing rounded players who can think on their feet rather than just playing by patterns. I don’t think that’s just kids in Wales. I think it’s a focus for the game in general.” Accordingly three top-class skills coaches have been hired to spread the gospel. “The reason why New Zealand are the best team in the world is because they play a lot of touch rugby early on and forge guys with good spatial awareness capable of making decisions on their feet.”
And so to todaySaturday. Lewsey does his best to be diplomatic but the competitive beast within has not been entirely muzzled. “I think England have to address some issues to have a realistic chance of winning the tournament. I think all the older English guys watching feel that. That doesn’t mean they can’t win it but it’s important to have clarity in terms of what the attacking plan is and make your selections accordingly. That is the bit for me.”
He also reckons England’s front five need to crank things up -“Perhaps you can get away with it against Fiji at home but when you’re playing South Africa, New Zealand, Australia or France that will be tested more” – and suspects Warren Gatland, his former coach at Wasps, will have something up his sleeve. “He’s a great strategist. It comes down to a one-off occasion and you’ve just got to look at the medals the guys have won.
“If you compare the two sides in terms of their resources England should always be there or thereabouts the best team in the world. But ultimately that’s the beauty of sport. I think it’ll be a very interesting game. I hope it lives up to expectation. A lot of people have been looking forward to this for a long time.” Lewsey, for once, cannot lose.
