Talk to any Welsh rugby fan about big prospects coming through and one of the first names mentioned will be Tom Prydie. After all this is the youngest ever Welsh player and, if I recall correctly, the youngest ever player to play in the Heineken cup, having come off the bench for the Ospreys.
This weekend he faces up to New Zealand (the poor sod, does anyone hold ANY hope for this game?) having already made two starts for Wales. And he is barely 18.
But take a look at that start for a moment. It is his 3rd cap. What is, in my opinion, more worrying is that it is only his 5th senior start. In fact he will, after Saturday morning, have started more games for Wales than he has for the Ospreys. And even then his only starts for the Ospreys has been in the LV= Cup.
Calm The Loving Down
Now don’t get me wrong, he looks to have it all. He is apparently exceedingly quick (though a discussion on Rugby Rebels has cast doubts on how reportedly quick he is), he is a big lad (the Ospreys website has him at 6’3″) and in the few occassions I have seen him he has looked very assured, not over-awed by the big stage.
Certainly the Welsh coaches are big fans, and they may know a thing or two about rugby.
But when you hear people talk they sound like they talk from authority about how well Prydie is going to do, about how he is ‘there’ already (wherever there is). But can someone explain to me where this authority has come from.
Let’s face it – almost none of us know anything about him. We will have seen him for 2 Welsh games, and that’s just about it. Most won’t have watched the Ospreys in the LV= cup (and who can blame them), he only has 2 sub appearances other than that (one Heineken cup, one Magners League) and so you will have to go watch Swansea in the Welsh Premiership to have any idea on what his ability is – and how many people do that?
It is very possible Tom Prydie will turn out to be a world class player. But given our history of putting all our hopes on youngsters, just to see them crack under the pressure, let’s try cool down the Prydie love in and see how he performs, rather than loving him for how we think he will perform in the future.
The press may love to build up players only to tear them down again. Let’s not follow their lead.
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