The Sports Corner

Welsh give Rugby Canada encouraging words - just don’t ask for money

Welsh manager Alan Phillips and caretaker coach Robin McBryde were in Toronto yesterday to make arrangements for the Wales tour of Canada next summer.

The Welsh team will be lead temporarily by McBryde who takes over as head coach from Frank Gatland who will be on tour with the British and Irish Lions as they tour South Africa. The Welsh also promise to be without several star players, who will undoubtedly be selected for the Lions tour, including IRB Player of the Year, Shane Williams, fullback Lee Byrnes and playmaker Gavin Henson.

Both sides met at Cardiff in November as part of Canada’s European tour which included losses of to Scotland 41-0, Ireland 55-0 and Wales 34-13 and a 21-13 win over Portugal.

Wales had its own battles with losses to New Zealand 29-9 and South Africa 20-15 but a win over Australia 21-18 to end the year.

“We have to play those nations to get better,” he said. “So the tour in November, although the results didn’t speak for you, it will have got the boys together, they will be better rugby players for it. And when we come out here, we expect a very tough game.”

“Only this time last year we were coming back from the World Cup with our tail between our legs,” he said. “So we know that in rugby things can turn around pretty quickly and I think you’ve got the basic ingredients here in Canada. Obviously you have to strengthen your player depth etc. but you’ve got quality coaches and you’ve got quality players.”

“You’ve got a bit more time on your side now to get together and work the guys,” McBryde said. “They’ll be playing at home and the temperature and the weather, that will have an effect as well. So it will be a stern challenge. We certainly won’t be taking it too lightly.”

Despite the scheduling of the Lions tour to South Africa, McBryde believes the Welsh will take a strong squad to North America.

“We take advantage of all the time we can get with the players because the international windows are quite small. We found that out to our detriment this autumn,” said McBryde. “So any time we can get the guys together, we’ve got to make that productive time. Albeit it’s at the end of the season, we’re coming here and looking to put up a good performance.”

Despite all the upbeat talk, the Welsh were never asked to explain their recent snub of Rugby Canada after the Cardiff test match where a Canadian request for a meagre ₤25,000 share of the ticket sales was rejected by the Welsh Rugby Union who it is estimated made ₤17 million from the November series of home tests alone. The one off test match on May 30, 2009 at York, Ontario promises to have some added feeling.