We’ve known previous autumns to be stress-testing. It comes with the territory of hosting the best.
Welsh rugby has to be bankrolled somehow, and those ticket sales, stadium pints and out-of-window Tests do their job.
But this was to be a different autumn series, and it was signposted early on by the media.
You know it’s about to kick off when the London broadsheets send their feature writers on the First Great Western to take the temperature across the border.
The Times dispatched Elgan Alderman, who asked: “What has gone wrong with rugby in Wales?” At Bala v Nant Conwy he witnesses a “crowd of old and young; those old enough to remember salad days, and those young enough to believe Welsh rugby is an unfixable mess.”
Andy Bull in The Guardian investigates and concludes that “Welsh rugby is overstretched, underfunded and falling apart again’, reporting on a governing body “damned as institutionally dysfunctional, sexist, racist and homophobic by an independent report.”
READ MORE: The New Big Question . . . Can Welsh Rugby Ever Come Back?
Before a ball had been kicked or passed, we had been warned. The turmoil in Welsh rugby, the soundtrack to our lives.
Autumn Shade II
Meanwhile, Sunday Times rugby correspondent Stephen Jones, a man who has seen it all on the rugby beat, throws plenty of autumn shade at WRU director of rugby Dave Reddin: “Message to Reddin and hopeless bungers of the WRU: Dave, you are not qualified to revive professional rugby in Wales.”
To be fair to Reddin, he’s forthcoming in fronting up to the media. And he gives good copy.
On the Good, the Bad and the Rugby podcast, Reddin treats his detachment from rugby, and Welsh rugby, as a strength.
“It’s bloody difficult because people are emotional about it. They’re connected to it.
READ MORE: You’ll be Fine . . . Rassie Erasmus Tells Wales It’ll all Have a Happy Ending
And if I bring anything, probably one of the most important things is that I’m not directly emotionally connected to it. I’m a bit distant from it… I don’t understand all of the history.”
He may be right. But is he at risk of wrecking the very thing he’s trying to fix through a lack of understanding?
Earlier in the month, he told the media:“I’m not focused on what’s happened or who beat the All Blacks 40 years ago.”
Right on cue, the WRU’s official channels share nostalgic content celebrating Wales beating the New Zealand 120 years ago. And the WRU corporate communications creak under the strain.
It has been a grim series for Wales on and off the pitch, and Reddin has rightly been scrutinised across every media channel by the rugby media set.
Autumn Almanac
’60s pop picker Ray Davies got it right:
“…can’t compensate for lack of sun, because the summer’s all gone.”
And Seasonal Affective Disorder was affecting us all. Press officers and journalists at standoff; reporters allegedly restricted in what they can ask at press conferences.
The Rugby Paper’s Peter Jackson put it simply: “A reporter’s raison d’être is to ask the question he or she thinks Joe and Josie Public want answered, especially in an arena as volatile as international sport.”
Japan show up, and DragonSports journo Graham Thomas files on the whistle: “It’s a measure of Wales’ steep decline that a last-minute win over Japan… is celebrated as if they’d actually won the World Cup.”
It’s tough at the top, and it’s tough at the bottom.
Next, a comprehensive victory for the All Blacks, though the real story was the unsold match tickets. Unprecedented.
READ MORE: Wales v South Africa . . . Rugby's Version of Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua
Then, before the arrival of the world champions, news breaks of the death of Gwent legend Spike Watkins.
There’s a smattering of media tributes and a ripple of remembrance on the socials, but not enough. The autumn gets darker.
Telegraph writer James Corrigan calls the Boks match “the stupidest fixture ever - taking Wales supporters for mugs.” South Africa win in record fashion.
Dispatches reach us from the metropole. The Observer’s Paul Hayward posts on X: “God, this is sad. What have they done to Welsh rugby, which is part of the country’s identity?”
Closer to home, the Daily Mail’s Alex Bywater laments: “In 13 years covering Welsh rugby, today was the darkest day I’ve experienced. 73-0. I repeat. 73-0”.
Let the Light In
November rain spills into December, and a raging fire destroys my local club, Penarth RFC, leaving a town devastated.
The reaction from local people and support from the wider rugby community offers hope.
There’s support from the WRU, and let’s congratulate them, thank them, and get that on the record. At last, some light.
READ MORE: It’s Them Again . . . Wales Get England in Best Draw Possible at Rugby World Cup
On Wednesday night, a crowd of 7,000 were at the Arms Park to witness a pulsating BUCS Super Rugby match between Cardiff University and Cardiff Met University.
A vibe check in the stadium reminds us nothing beats the buzz of live, running rugby under the lights.
So, it’s toodle-pip to the autumn…
As news reaches us from Spotify Wrapped that this correspondent is a 0.2% global fan of Lana Del Rey.
Time to start dreaming of the West Coast, and getting High by the Beach.
And beating England at RWC 2027.
Just don’t let the winter in first.
Andrew Weeks is a lecturer in the school of journalism, media and culture at Cardiff University. You can read his regular columns here.
