Former Scottish Captain Sir Ian McGeechan believes that Wales will definitely obtain the prize of the long-term contract with head coach Warren Gatland.
Although Wales’ recent form is very poor but McGeechan said Gatland, who was McGeechan’s fellow coach of the lions in 2009, will turn things around.
Wales performed very poor throughout the year. They were not able to win any match of the recently concluded autumn internationals and have not won their last seven international test matches.
Despite the Wales’ poor performance, Welsh Rugby Union has signed a new long-term deal with Warren Gatland, which will retain him at the position of Wales’ coach until 2015. But his stay as coach will depend on performance of the team.
Welsh Rugby Union has been facing gigantic amount of criticism since they signed the new contract with Gatland last month. Fans are asking the reason of his contract’s extension after such a poor performance.
But McGeechan, who was speaking at Bath University following the announcement of FirstCape Wines as sponsors of the British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia in 2013, said it is a very wise move by the Welsh Rugby Union, as you should give at least a reasonable
time to him to prove his abilities.
McGeechan said, “I think solidity is important. It is too easy to say an agreement ends, so we will move on. If we are truthful, we are still becoming professional in rugby about how we structure things and what we do. The teams that are
most successful are the ones with a steady management and a steady coach.”
Even though Wales have only won two matches out of their last 13 matches but McGeechan is hoping a major amount of change in Welsh team and expecting a very different team in the upcoming Six Nations tournament and world cup.
Actually, McGeechan’s hope is a result of the Wales’ brilliant performance in their last match of the autumn season against All Blacks, who are the number one team in the International Rugby Board’s ratings. Although Wales lost, but they gave a hard time
to All Blacks.
McGeechan, who represented Scotland in 32 international test matches, said Wales’ performance was terrific against All Blacks and their defence and commitment was very encouraging. He hopes that this performance will boost their confidence and they will
perform better in the upcoming tournaments. He also warned other teams to do not take Wales lightly.
Talking about his expectations from Wales in the New Year, McGeechan said they need to keep trying to move the game on and look to play with the right rhythm, keep control and just have the balance in the decision-making at critical times.
McGeechan also talked about few Welsh players. He said their captain Matthew Rees, who had been part of Lions last year when McGeechan coached them, is a very strong person and always leads from the front. McGeechan also praised the qualities of Mike Philips
and said he is a real asset for Wales.
No doubt Wales have not been able to perform well throughout the year but this does not show the real face of a rugby-loving country. They have few players who can show to other teams that what Wales could do in the field of rugby and no wonder Wales will
be a different team in the upcoming Six Nations and world cup.
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