Back in 2001 Graham Henry took the British Lions to Australia. He took a large Welsh contingent, but few got to play in the tests. It is that moment that many considered to be the beginning of the end for Graham Henry as a Welsh coach.

He had told his Welsh rugby players that they were undervalued, the best in the world and they were going to prove it. By not selecting them for the British Lions he showed that he did not believe what he was saying, and it undermined his credibility with the Welsh players.

The Welsh Management Now

Almost the entire Welsh management is on the tour, certainly the ‘holy trinity’ of Warren Gatland, Sean Edwards and Rob Howley play a big role under the stewardship of now ex-Wasps coach Ian McGeechan. The Welsh coaching influence can be easily seen in the tactics of the British Lions, who are very much playing ‘the Welsh way’.

So does that mean that we will have the same fall out that befell Graham Henry? Will Warren Gatland and co have lost the dressing room?

Not in my opinion.

The Welsh Players

Yes there will be issues to address. The non-selection of captain Ryan Jones (even if he was later called up) will have caused a morale problem with him, as will the dropping of Alun-Wyn Jones. But here we are talking about the Welsh Captain and the player many are tipping to be the next Welsh Captain. These are two of the most down to Earth people I have ever met – Ryan especially. I expect it to spur them on, not weight them down.

Warren Gatland has, by all accounts, made the Welsh camp embrace ‘the blame culture’ far more than any coach previously. He wants the truth told, no matter how harsh, and if he feels that players aren’t up to it at any given time, he will tell them (though I personally think Ryan has been in great form).

This stops the issue of players having their ego’s massaged to get the best out of them – and then having them popped by reality.

But even more than this attitude there is the fact that most of the players on the tour will have played big parts in the tests. Certainly the likes of Stephen Jones, Adam Jones, Gethin Jenkins and certainly Jamie Roberts have been true stars, whilst others such as Matthew Rees have done themselves proud.

Shane Williams can have no issue with not starting the tests, by his own admission he hasn’t been on form, whilst Martyn Williams may have every right to feel hard done by – but the man is a true Welsh legend and a great bloke who will take everything on the chin.

I think that the combination of many Welsh players doing so well, the buck stopping with Ian McGeechan, not the Welsh coaches (so they could say they fought the corner of AWJ and Nugget) and the blame culture will mean there is little fall out from this tour.

Quite the opposite. If the Welsh coaches have finally learned the importance of Jamie Roberts as a dummy runner, not just a contact chaser, then we could gain a lot from this tour.

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