On January 25th Warren Gatland said Wales would win the Six Nations.
Those in attendance at the press conference that day scoffed, as did the legions of armchair pundits dotted around the northern hemisphere – those wearing red included.
On the back of a pretty average autumn with defeats to Australia and New Zealand, an unconvincing win over Georgia, and a narrow victory over South Africa to round things off, expectation outside the camp was anything but high.
Now, one swallow a summer does not make, but Saturday’s resounding thumping of a much-fancied Scotland had the air of something very different about it.
Bereft of many of his major stars through a debilitating injury list, Gatland’s hand had been somewhat forced – with the more expansive brand of rugby on display to varying effect in the autumn continued.
While the autumn seemed like an experiment, the main focus of which being a ball-playing twelve instead of a Gatland-ball plunderer, Saturday’s outing against the Scots felt a lot more substantive.
Selecting ten Scarlets in the starting line-up was always going to add consistency, and an overall understanding of a style of play. But when you look at some of the handling from the likes of Cory Hill, the line breaks of Alun-Wyn Jones and the back-row prowess that included two other non-Scarlets in Josh Navidi and Ross Morairty and we see ethos running through the entire team.
Wales have always been considered a side a couple of injuries away from disaster. Now, more than an element of depth is starting to show. Hill, Navidi, Steff Evans, Josh Adams, Gareth Davies, Aaron Shingler, Rhys Patchell and the utterly superb Hadleigh Parkes would not have been considered nailed-on starters, but now have possession of jerseys ahead of more illustrious teammates.
And they are playing with a freedom that makes this side incredibly dangerous. From one to fifteen, players are looking to play the ball, yes we saw those hands Samson Lee, and they can terrorise defences – while looking utterly resolute themselves.
As we build to a World Cup campaign this is a group of players to lead Wales forward, and suddenly not so many people laughing at Gatland’s bold assertions.
