Wales coach Gatland under heavy fire as Halfpenny ruled out of World Cup
SHANE WILLIAMS yesterday cut through the sense of despair in Welsh rugby about the double injury blow to their World Cup plans, by questioning the decision to let Leigh Halfpenny play last weekend.
The revered former Lions wing was concerned about the Toulon f ull- back’s physical condition before the ill-fated warm-up game against Italy in Cardiff four days ago and his fears were confirmed yesterday when Halfpenny was ruled out of the competition.
After influential scrum-half Rhys Webb had been removed on a stretcher, having damaged his knee and ankle, Halfpenny was also carried off with a knee injury.
The 26-year-old is such a fixture in the No 15 shirt and as Wales’ deadly goal-kicker that Williams was bewildered by the decision to put him in the line of fire. ‘It’s good for players to get a run-out, players that perhaps needed a game like George North and Sam Warburton,’ said Williams.
‘But I saw Leigh warming up and noticed his knee had been strapped up. I said at the time he obviously has an injury. Perhaps it would have been a good time to leave Leigh out and blood someone like Matthew Morgan. Obviously then Leigh went over on his knee and it looked nasty.
‘He has been the form player over the last four or five seasons probably. The player to get Wales out of trouble when perhaps they aren’t in games — the best full-back in world rugby. To me it just looked like he wasn’t fit anyway. He wasn’t the same under the high ball as we’ve seen over the years. He looked a little bit uncomfortable. Losing him completely took the wind out of our sails.’
According to Ben Kay, the absence of Halfpenny would fundamentally alter the way that England and the other teams in Pool A set out to play against Wales. They will be able to adopt a more aggressive approach without such a lethal threat hanging over every disciplinary lapse.
‘Leigh Halfpenny is one of those players who changes tactically what the opposition does,’ said England’s former World Cupwinning lock. ‘You can’t compete so hard at the breakdown for fear of giving away penalties which you know he will kick.
‘So his injury has an impact on both sides. Halfpenny is an 86 per cent goal-kicker, but it’s more than that. It’s the fact he’s got that same temperament as Jonny Wilkinson. On big occasions you put your money on him. When you play against people like that you naturally say, “Don’t give away any penalties in our own half ”. How? Well you don’t compete at the breakdown.
‘It’s like when we had Jonny. We thought, “Right we’ll get a penalty, pop it over, the scoreboard is tick- ing”. The next guy in might be just as good a kicker, but Halfpenny, like Jonny has a reputation. Psychologically it affects the crowd, it affects absolutely everything.’
Williams also conceded that the injury to Webb was a ‘massive loss’. The Ospreys scrum-half was a multi-award winner last season and has become an increasingly prominent fulcrum of the Wales side. His plight even drew a sympathetic response from within the England camp, with rival scrumhalf, Ben Youngs, saying: ‘It is sad news for Rhys. He had a great Six Nations.
‘He burst on to the scene in the autumn and scored a couple of tries. He would have worked very hard and to have that dream taken away is horrible. He is a quality player. It probably opens up the door now to Mike Phillips, who is a top player himself.’
Ian McGeechan is familiar with Phillips from the Lions tour of South Africa in 2009. He urged Gatland to recall the veteran — who was dropped from the Wales squad last month — and reinstate him in the starting XV without delay, as a potential rallying influence in difficult times.
‘He impressed me in 2009 and he was quite key to things in 2013 too,’ said McGeechan.
‘He’s the sort of player that, emotionally, will move Wales on. They maybe need someone coming in like that — someone who is quite a strong character.
‘The fact that it’s Rhys Webb who has got injured (first-choice No 9) makes it even more important to have that experience in there now. It could be a godsend that they’ve got someone like Phillips who can come in.’
McGeechan believes Gatland is a ‘master of psychology’ who can ensure that morale in the Welsh squad is revitalised in time for the start of the World Cup. Williams echoed that sentiment, adding: ‘It’s for Warren to say, “Look, we’ve had bad luck, it looks like everything is against us, we’ll let people write us off. Let them think we’ve got no hope for this World Cup and let’s show them that the guys coming in can do a job”.’