State of the Nation - Wales

The question regarding this team is not how far do they still have to go, it's how far can they still go before the next World Cup.Let's face facts: potential though this side has and competitive though it is, this is not a team that can go on to lift a World Cup, nor is it a team that will take a Grand Slam or Six Nations any time soon.Warren Gatland arrived in the principality with a fanfare in 2008, taking a side that had been knocked out of the World Cup by Fiji to a Grand Slam in the Six Nations.Since then, things have not been so good. Of the last fifteen games, Wales have won only five. With many of this current crop hitting full international maturity and with the World Cup one year away, you'd be hoping for a better return than this right now. They've been more consistent under Gatland, they've been better-organised, in many ways more competitive across the board. It's winning appears to be the problem.Having blown a 16-3 lead at home to a rag-tag South African team, Gatland talked before the series against New Zealand about mental strength being required to achieve the first win for Wales against the All Blacks in 57 years. That was a couple of days before his side fluffed several chances to build up a significant lead and then were caught napping twice for tries that turned the shape of the game. In the second half, mentally, the Welsh fell right off it.In the second game the Welsh were better but still got stuffed by nineteen points. That's the problem once again - other teams seem to be able to find a new level to close out a win or adapt to find a winning game, Wales don't. Occasionally the talent within the team finds something miraculous - remember that comeback against Scotland - but you just can't rely on things like that happening every time.So what's to be done? It's difficult to say. New players, like Dan Biggar and Tom Prydie, are popping up and giving decent accounts of themselves but looking at the collective, the Welsh are just lacking someone with a bit of X-factor to conjure up the magic that would ice the cake Gatland has baked so skillfully.However, it must also be remembered that the June tour was undertaken without several key players: James Hook, Shane Williams, Martyn Williams, Duncan Jones and Tom Shanklin were all missing, as was new flanker Sam Warburton who looks as though he will be a great one day. Perhaps they would have provided a little spark.Buy online Six Nations Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in Six Nations 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.
Perhaps. But what this Welsh team now needs is a big win and then some continuity from that. If it doesn't come in November, it might not come at all before Warren Gatland's contract comes to an end after World Cup 2011 - which would be a shame considering how well the Welsh have pulled together in his tenure.Buy online England v France Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in England v France 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.