Jamie Roberts gives forthright verdict on Wales’ future after ‘brave decision’ to take on the Springboks
Ex-Wales and British & Irish Lions centre Jamie Roberts (inset) and his country's players in action during the Autumn Nations Series.
Jamie Roberts insists Welsh rugby is on the right track despite hurtling towards a weekend likely to derail the national side and its four regions.
Wales face world champions South Africa with an understrength team after bosses forfeited the option to pick players based in England and France by choosing to stage the fixture outside the window designated for international matches.
The Dragons will be without Louis Rees-Zammit, Dafydd Jenkins, Max Llewellyn, Nicky Smith, Nick Tompkins, Adam Beard, Olly Cracknell and a good few more.
Welsh regions weakened during a URC weekend
That leaves head coach Steve Tandy to select from the regions which, being a URC weekend, means weakening Dragons, Cardiff, Ospreys and Scarlets for fixtures against Leinster, Zebre, Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively.
Talking to the BBC’s Scrum V podcast, former Wales star James Hook said: “I don’t think anybody wants the game next weekend, players or supporters.”
The decision by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to organise it for a weekend on which no other Test matches are scheduled is financially driven and was taken before Roberts joined the WRU board.
The ex-Wales and British & Irish Lions centre’s role, since coming aboard as an independent non-executive director, has been to help rebuild the national sport in the wake of successive Six Nations whitewashes and economic meltdown in the club game.
That process culminated in an announcement last month that one of the professional regions will be cut by 2027 with the intent to equally fund only three teams, based in Cardiff, east Wales and west Wales, and invest heavily in the pathway underneath.
The WRU’s vision is to deliver greater financial security to each region and contractually ensure that going forward rugby in Wales has a greater focus on recruiting, retaining and selecting Welsh talent.
Roberts told Planet Rugby: “I’m fully behind the decision and I think it’s exciting times to be a Welsh rugby player over the medium to long term. The decision made is a brave one, but it’s one that had to be made considering where we are now.”
Wales last won a Six Nations match in March 2023. Since October that year they have beaten only Japan (twice). You have to go back to 2017 for their last URC title success, achieved by a Scarlets side now fighting for its very survival.
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“Change is never easy because you appreciate it’s going to hurt some people,” Roberts admitted.
“But if you put all the information we had in front of any group of people who had a passion for, and cared for, Welsh rugby, I think they’d come to exactly the same conclusion as us.”
The WRU’s consultation drew more than 7,000 responses and, according to Roberts, “was a great exercise in really going out to all the stakeholders in the game to really understand how they felt about the proposed changes.”
‘Agreement among the majority’ regarding change
He continued: “There was a common theme across everywhere that we need change. There was agreement among the majority that we need to invest heavily in the bottom of the game and channel resource into the academy, produce more good players, more better players.
“Then it’s about concentrating talent at the top of the game to get our club sides and Test sides dining back at the top table again.”
Wales go into the South Africa game ranked 11th globally. This month’s victory over Japan, courtesy of Jarrod Evans’ last-gasp penalty, guaranteed them a second seed spot in next week’s Rugby World Cup draw.
It also raised morale amongst players and public, reflected in last weekend’s spirited loss to New Zealand in which wing Tom Rogers became the first Welshman to score a try hat-trick in the history of the fixture.
“The dream that everyone in the game in Wales has it that we get back to having a strong Wales,” Roberts said.
“It’s hard. Change is difficult. But the decision we’ve made has been taken with a huge amount of respect to players and fans.
“Our duty was to make a decision in the best interest of the whole Welsh game. There was a general consensus across all stakeholders that change was wanted. Doing nothing was not an option.”