Lions success has give us all World Cup confidence
NICK CAIN TALKS TO ROB HOWLEY ABOUT THE WORLD CUP AND HIS FUTURE AFTER IT
ROB Howley was a great player, who judging by his record of a trio of Wales Grand Slams (2008, 2012, 2019) and two undefeated Lions tours (2013, 2017) as an assistant coach, has the credentials to become a great head coach.
That post will not be with Wales, initially at least, because the former Wales and Lions scrum-half, who has been an integral part of the Welsh success during Warren Gatland’s 11 year tenure, has decided like his Kiwi colleague to test himself in a new environments.
However, Howley says that it could be a farewell to cherish, because he believes that the newly crowned Six Nations Grand Slam champions, are on the cusp of a special 2019 World Cup campaign.
Howley says that the meticulous preparation by his coaching mentor, Gatland, has given Wales a chance of winning the World Cup for the first time.
It is no idle chatter given that Wales were within sight of a final against New Zealand in 2011, before Sam Warburton’s red card from Alain Rolland in the semifinal against France.
It is also given credibility by Wales developing the habit of winning big crunch games, with the 2015 pool victory over England at Twickenham a case in point – and the red hot home wins over England and Ireland to clinch the recent Grand Slam giving it even greater emphasis with the tournament in Japan on the horizon.
What is more remarkable still is that this upward trajectory has been achieved despite the Welsh Regions struggling in the PRO14 and the European Cup, with the national team becoming a stand-alone centre of excellence under Gatland.
Howley says: “When players have come into the camp over the last 18 months we’ve seen the self-belief, confidence, and motivation to wear the three feathers develop. It’s been an amazing 18 months.”
He also highlights the differences between the latest Welsh triumph and the clean sweeps of 2008 and 2012, not least the winning mentality fostered during this season’s 14-match unbeaten run: “It is our first Grand Slam with the three blues (France, Italy, Scotland) away from home, and throughout the campaign we saw the belief and cohesion grow.
“In the past maybe we wouldn’t have nailed that moment against England (when Cory Hill scored), and perhaps we would have made a mistake late on against Scotland – but that mindset, and winning habit, has put us in a very good place.”
Howley adds: “It was not an easy campaign. At half-time against France we were 16-0 down, but as coaches we were calm in what we said to the players because we saw openings. We saw also that the confidence from being unbeaten in the autumn, and in Argentina before that, meant that we could exploit them.”
However, he selects the 21-13 victory over England as the turning point: “The way we regained cohesion in the game against England was pivotal to the whole season. No one expected England to beat Ireland in Dublin in the way they did, and they came to Cardiff with real momentum.
”The way we regained cohesion in the game against England was pivotal to the whole season”
“Against Ireland, because of the mood in the Welsh camp in the build-up, I never thought we would lose. There was so much mental resilience and confidence in the squad, and we put Ireland under pressure from the start and never let go.”
However, Howley says he is looking forwards, and that the triumph and ticket-tape parade in Cardiff in the middle of March has gone into storage because World Cup preparations are imminent.
“In a World Cup year that is soon water under the bridge… we have got England home and away in the first two weeks of August, and then we go to Turkey for a training camp to acclimatise for the humidity in Japan. After that we have matches against Ireland home and away.”
The Wales attack coach torpedoes the notion that World Cup warm-up games often seem to be short of the intensity you usually get at international level, and says that as far as Gatland and his coaching team are concerned they are absolutely crucial.
Any suggestion of a lack of motivation is knocked on the head: “If I’m a Welsh player with 14 wins, and I’m picked for the next game, I certainly want to win that game… we can see the excitement in training. All the Wales coaches have been there for 11 years, and we are relentless in our process to prepare them.
Hence the precision schedule Howley outlines: “We have learned that you have to go into World Cups battle-hardened, so we have only 16 days from the last of those Ireland games to the first pool game in Japan against Georgia. We know our strength in depth will be tested, and that’s why our preparation started last summer. We are unbeaten since then, and we have planned meticulously, and will continue to do so. We have to give every player in the squad the chance to get on that plane to Japan.”
He continues: “There will be 31 players in the Wales World Cup squad – and that’s why 31 players went to Argentina last summer, why 31 were selected for the Autumn series, and why there were 31 players in our Six Nations squad which spent a training week together in Nice in between the France and Italy games.” Howley says that the main challenge to the coaches now is selection, and that it’s not an easy job, with back row competition especially fierce. However, he pinpoints resting players at the right time as an essential component.
“In 2015 we were hugely disappointed to go out to South Africa in the quarterfinals, even though our resilience came through in that campaign with the number of injuries we had. We showed mental strength, and it was needed. We won’t shy away from working hard, but also working smarter so that we don’t lose players before the tournament starts. “Last summer on the Argentina tour we gave all the 2017 Welsh Lions a rest.
George North was the only one we took because he’d been injured, and he wanted to go. It was the same principle when Warren made ten changes for Italy during the Six Nations – it was absolutely the right choice.
“By the last Ireland (warm-up) game we will have picked our World Cup 31, but the first three games will be an opportunity for players to make their claim. These games against Tier Ones certainly prepare you.”
Howley believes that this World Cup will be the most wide open for some time, and that the Northern Hemisphere sides will be at the forefront. He says, for example, that despite the Welsh wins over England and Ireland that both should get to the semi-finals.
“Absolutely. There is no doubt that in 2017 the confidence of the Lions players from that tour of New Zeland had an impact, as did Ireland’s victory over New Zealand. England are always very competitive against Southern Hemisphere sides, and we have had some of those moments too. Northern Hemisphere rugby is quite vibrant – it’s in a good place. “There’s no doubt that England and Ireland have strength in depth, and that ability to win big games, and maybe Scotland do as well. There are very close margins now at the top level, and it is even more so in the World Cup, but I can see the Northern Hemisphere being successful.
We just need to embrace it, and look forward to it.”
As for Wales, who face Australia, Fiji, Georgia and Uruguay in Pool D, he says there are no easy games any more in World Cups.
“We had Autumn games against Australia – who we know well—and also Georgia and Fiji, who will be hugely competitive. The competitiveness in the last 12 years has improved. There are no 70 or 80 point margins, and you only have to look at Japan’s win over South Africa in 2015 to see what can happen.”
Having notified the WRU of his withdrawal from the shortlist to replace Gatland over 18 months ago -”I phoned CEO Martyn Phillips and said I did not want my name to go in”- the question hanging in the air is what happens next for Rob Howley once the World Cup is over?
Howley says the business in hand, comes first: “I’m not sure. I’ve thought for the last 18 months that the World Cup would be special for us, and I just want to enjoy the next six months. No doubt I will have some conversations, because I want to remain in coaching and hope I can add value – but the World Cup is my focus, and you cannot take your eye off the ball.
“I have experienced some good times, and if I have to take some time off and spend time with my family after the World Cup I will be happy to do so, with one of my two girls at Exeter University and the other doing her A-levels.”
Part of that decision will have been taken on the basis that he has done the Wales job already, having been promoted to interim head coach twice when Gatland was preparing for Lions tours in 201.3 and 2017. In 2013 he led Wales to the Six Nations title, when they overwhelmed Stuart Lancaster’s Grand Slam-chasing
England side 30-3 in Cardiff to clinch it. The Autumn of 2016, and the 2017 Six Nations, proved more of a challenge. In the autumn series Wales lost to Australia but beat Japan, South Africa and Argentina.
However, the pressure mounted in the Six Nations when Wales finished fifth, with their only wins coming against Italy and Ireland –with the interim coach copping the flak.
”I’ve been involved in five Lions tours, and every coach in the British Isles would want to be involved”
Howley recalls: “I really enjoyed 2013 as head coach, but then in 2017 to lose to Scotland, and then to England after that last minute try by Elliot Daly, was difficult.
You have to be resilient in those circumstances when the pressure is on, and the game we won comfortably against Ireland with the roof closed is one I’ll never forget…”
Howley says candidly he wants a little time to take stock: “I am where I am through my own decisions. I will probably wait until after the World Cup, and assess then the best move. I’m open-minded. The learning for me, is that the next step is to be a head coach. It could be with a club, but there’s not an endless supply of jobs.”
Asked whether he would consider coaching another country if he stayed in the international game, Howley does not blink: “Yes, I would. It’s a professional world now. I’m a proud Welshman, but there are Kiwis and Englishmen coaching other international sides – for instance Andy Farrell, a proud Englishman, has just been announced as the next Ireland coach – so, of course, you would consider it.”
The 48-year-old says that if his next coaching move gives him the leeway he would also love another chance of coaching alongside Gatland on the 2023 tour to South Africa.
“I’ve been involved in five Lions tours, and, of course, every coach in the British Isles would want to be involved, but by then I might be involved with a club. It is up to Warren Gatland, and I know he is very good at putting a management and coaching team together, so naturally I’ll want to be part of it.”
What Howley says next informs us not just about his immediate ambitions with Wales at the World Cup, but also his coaching future.
“There is no intensity like the international game. It drives you. That’s what you love about it. Yes, you would love more preparation, but it makes you more specific. It trains you to give players an insight and prepare them in a short time-frame for what they will experience.”
It is an observation that has Rob Howley, head coach, written all over it.
