Wales face Ireland in Dublin tonight at the start of the new Autumn Nations Cup. Coach Wayne Pivac is hoping change in tournament will bring a change in fortunes, but Grand Slam winner and former Ireland U20, Leinster and Lansdowne coach Mike Ruddock believes it will come down to guts and muscle as he tells Graham Thomas.
Mike Ruddock has told Wales they need to stand firm in Dublin tonight if they are to avoid a sixth successive defeat.
As always, the former Grand Slam-winning coach has more than enough feet in both camps on the eve of an Ireland-Wales clash.
Not only is his wife Irish, one son, Rhys, is Leinster captain and an Ireland international, while the other, Ciaran, is a strength and conditioning coach to the current squad under Andy Farrell.
Ruddock is a former Ireland U20 coach, Leinster head coach, and dominated the Irish club scene with Lansdowne until he returned to Wales this year to join the Ospreys.
It gives him a unique perspective on any Celtic clash between the nations, the latest of which is at the Aviva Stadium on Friday and live on S4C.
The fixture is the opener in the new Autumn Nations Cup, but comes after a torrid time for Wales who have lost five successive games, albeit spread across a period of nine months.
On top of that, head coach Wayne Pivac opted to part company with his defence specialist Byron Hayward last weekend, following the defeat to Scotland which ended an underwhelming Six Nations campaign.
What struck Ruddock – and many others – in that match was the ease with which the Scots drove a line-out to score their vital try and he says of Wales, “They need to be tougher to score against.
“Ireland will have noticed that Wales conceded a try from a driving line-out, so they will be wanting to test Wales there again.
“Ireland will be examining Wales in those close-quarter exchanges to see what the appetite is to repel those kinds of challenges.
“That’s what it will come down to. How do Wales manage those critical moments?
“Can Wales show the physicality and technical wherewithal to deny the opposition in those key moments near the line?
“Can Wales withstand pressure when the opposition is camped in your territory?
“It might be old school, but it goes back to the kind of key physical moments that used to define the game when you went to Pontypool on a wet Tuesday night.
“The game has changed in so many ways, but some fundamentals remain constant. Then, as now, you either survive in those physical moments or the game passes you by.
“You either come through them and win, or else you are overwhelmed and over-powered and you lose.”
It was Wales’ inability to muscle-up against the Scots that cost Pivac what would have been a morale-boosting victory and possibly cost Hayward his job.
Ruddock, who had Clive Griffiths as his defence coach when Wales won the Slam in 2005, says he was left saddened by the decision over Hayward, who he knows well from their shared roots in Blaina and Ebbw Vale.
“With Byron, he’s from my village and so I’m biased towards him. He’s a top coach and a smashing guy so it was devastating to see him leave from a human perspective. Nobody likes to see that.
“But from a rugby perspective, the buck stops with the head coach so he has the power to change things up if he thinks that is best for the team going forward.
“Ultimately, that’s his call and we have to respect that. Like all coaches, we get judged on results, particularly at international level.
“Wayne now needs a run of games to put his stamp on things and that’s exactly what he has now. Up until now, because of the pandemic, it has all been stop-start, which makes things difficult.
“It’s important for him to now shape continuity of preparation and continuity of performance.
“The guys really need to start to understand what he wants from them and the team.”
Ruddock sees Ireland in a similar situation to Wales, with both nations striving to move on with relatively new coaches after periods of considerable success.
For Wales it has been Pivac’s attempt to step into Warren Gatland’s large shoes, while the Irish are looking to Englishman Farrell to fill the void left by their own New Zealander, Joe Schmidt.
“Ireland have not had the consistency of old, certainly within an entire 80 minutes,” says Ruddock.
Haven’t had a growler in ages. With Ireland v Wales in the rugby tomorrow night wanted something to suit the dark nights. So looking forward to @TheWhiteHag The Black Sow, for kick off. https://t.co/QtfUNa7ZfU
— John ‘J’ McCarthy (@JMcC_one) November 12, 2020
“For the first 15 minutes against France, they looked strong and organised, but they were not able to maintain that.
“That’s the challenge for Andy Farrell as a new coach, but to achieve that you need the ability to interact on a regular basis which he hasn’t had.”
Ruddock sees the key to a Wales victory being mastery at the breakdown, the facet of the game which he believes is now more critical than ever.
“The biggest thing at the moment for all coaches is the new interpretation of the breakdown. We saw Scotland dominate the breakdown against Wales and the difference that made to the performance and, ultimately, to the result.
“There is a transition here for every coach. The more quickly you can accelerate that transition, then the quicker you’ll get the benefits.
“I would say the breakdown had doubled in its significance, compared to before.
“You might get 15 of your own line-outs, but 100 opportunities to win ball at the breakdown.
“The big thing for Wales is to sustain territory better than they did against Scotland.
“Wales can turn it around. They are recent Grand Slam champions and every team at present is some way off their absolute best, because of the environment we are in.”
S4C – Fri – 18:30 – Ireland v Wales
Join the Clwb Rygbi team at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin for live coverage of Wales’ opening match of the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup, against Ireland. Kick off 7.00pm.
