Ooh, You Are Autumn!

Well, it was a fairly depressing Autumn series for Wales in the end. Four tries scored in four home games; one from a kick, one from a trick, and two from loose ball situations. In 320+ minutes of rugby, they created nothing. The frustration of the supporters boiled over on Saturday evening as Wales were booed from the field at the Millennium Stadium. They can have no complaints; unlike the poor punter, £45 pounds (or more) poorer for another no-show. Sport is still the only theatre where one can't expect a refund even if the cast forget every single line. Perhaps Wales need to follow the example of Wigan Athletic? Fat chance...

"Wales may be the first major international team to have perfected the drift attack: flat, one-paced, ready for the hit and pushing for the safety of the touchline."
- Gareth Roberts, BBC.

As fans, we have grown up in recent years. We no longer believe that style is paramount. We understand that winning is, if not everything, then at least 51% of everything. But what we cannot forgive, is failure without style. We can still stomach defeat, but we cannot abide deserving defeat. When there is no refuge in injustice, there is nowhere else to turn but inward.

And so, for the first time, there are real rumblings of disquiet about the coaching team. Has Warren Gatland taken us as far as he can? Has Shaun Edwards' defensive system been found out? And what are Howley and McBride actually doing? Suddenly, these aren't taboo questions any more. But that's not to say that they have obvious answers. If not this team, then who? And would change at the top really help, or are this squad in irreversible decline?

No answers here, I'm afraid. It's dangerous to hang too much hope on individuals, but it's hard not to imagine that things would be different with Adam Jones, Lee Byrne and, above all, Gavin Henson in the squad. And so it comes down to the old angst about "strength in depth"; once again it seems to be fatally lacking, and undermining what success is achieved. No coach is going to solve that overnight.

In the short term, the similarly desperate state of other Six Nations squads ameliorates the crisis. With England floundering, the French golden age over before it began, and Scotland being... Scotland, it seems that even a struggling Wales side will stand a chance of doing well in the New Year. Perhaps short term success is going to have to be the limit of our ambitions for now? World domination, it seems, will have to wait. Again.

Missing In Action

BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Ospreys v Northampton (Thu)

That the Ospreys are claiming 29 absentees for tonight's Anglo-Welsh game is a dramatic illustration of the farce that the modern squad system is becoming. Some may well ask how on Earth a squad that can lose 29 players, and still field a match 22, is sustainable. I certainly wouldn't want to be paying that wage bill while barely filling 7000 seats.

Still, it's a chance to see players we've never seen before; or even heard of. I confess I don't know James King from Adam (Jones, ha-ha). The best of luck to him.

The good news is that the Northampton side will be a similar patchwork, so there are still no excuses; and given the fare that the first XV have produced thus far, this is a golden opportunity for players like Ryan Bevington and Jonathan Spratt to begin capitalizing the P in Potential. I also have high hopes of Gareth Owen, so much freer-looking at fly-half and one of the few bright spots in last weekend's soporific 9-9 draw with Glasgow.

Of course, it's all just an hors d'oeuvre for Saturday's ritual sacrifice international match. Let's hope the boys can put me in a good mood before that ordeal begins...