Wales have endured a torrid time this month in the autumn internationals against the might of the southern hemisphere. On the first weekend they went down 16-25 to a resurgent Australia at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, followed up with a 25-29 loss to world champions South Africa in an end-to-end encounter where they threw away an eight point lead at half-time. Next up was Fiji which finished a lacklustre 16-16, setting up a final crunch Autumn international against New Zealand. Yet amongst this disappointment Wales are a side building up their confidence in a crucial 12 months of international rugby.
With their New Zealand coach Warren Gatland signing for another four years, several precocious talents emerging and exciting on the world stage and an opportunity for revenge in their first match of the 2011 World Cup against the Boks – there is a sense the Dragons may have lost this battle but there is a long way to go before the war is over.
Sport.co.uk sought out three of their prodigious, young players to examine the state of rugby union in Wales. First off we caught up with Wales centre, Andrew Bishop. At 25, with 14 caps to his name and the return of Gavin Henson to top flight rugby with Saracens (if he indeed calls time on his newly developed penchant for dancing) – the Ospreys back has a crucial 10 months ahead of him to make it onto the plane for New Zealand 2011.
We spoke to him about facing up to the All Blacks’ haka, the promise of star debutant George North, the return of Charlotte Church’s ex, and why he hasn’t lost that lovin’ feelin’.
First of all I’ve got to ask for your reaction to the South Africa test. It was all going so well but three minutes in the second half turned the match on its head. What happened?
Obviously the boys are disappointed with the loss. I think the South Africans showed how good they were. When they had to turn it on they did yet we felt the game was still there for the taking at the end. We just couldn’t get the points we needed.
Where did it go wrong and where did it go right against South Africa? What do you feel changed in the second half?
Reading the papers the morning after, a lot of people were blaming the referee for a few of the decisions that didn’t go our way. The bounce of the ball didn’t go our way sometimes. We didn’t get any luck. But as I’ve said, fair play to the South Africans. They were pretty clinical. They did what they are best at in being direct, didn’t make any mistakes and took their chances when they came to them. I think we can learn a lot from that. We did have the chances ourselves but we just didn’t take the points.
Are there more positives rather than negatives to take out of the performance?
Yes, definitely. A couple years ago we probably would have been happy with that result. Everyone would be talking about how well Wales played but in how disappointed everyone was afterwards it shows that we felt we should have won the game. Coming out at half time we were leading 17-6, I think, and we probably should have played down in their half a bit more. Making mistakes and losing the ball really cost us the game.
What is the mood in the camp like? Did Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards tear into you at full time or remind you of the positives that can be taken into the upcoming matches?
A bit of both really. They were disappointed and they did tear into us because they knew the match was there for us and we didn’t take it. We’ll be playing them again in our first game of the World Cup and it gives us a lot of confidence going into that game knowing that we can beat them. The boys are just looking forward to the Friday game now [against Fiji] hoping to put in another good performance and get a win. We definitely need a win to build the confidence going into the New Zealand game after that.
The stand out highlight was the display of debutant and prodigious teenager George North on the wing (scoring two tries on his debut). George has an English father, was born in Kings Lyn and could have represented England. So is he always trying to emphasise his allegiance to Wales – bellowing the Land of My Fathers at the top of his lungs and blaring Tom Jones on his stereo?
Yeah, I think all the boys are really happy he’s chosen to play for Wales. Fair play to him, he had an absolutely fantastic debut game. To get two tries – I can’t imagine what he feels like at the moment. All the boys are really happy for him and he’ll be really positive going into Friday’s game.
He’s a pretty level headed boy. He’s very chatty and not big-headed. I’m sure he’ll keep his feet on the ground. He’s got a great career ahead of him.
After the disappointment of the Fiji result you have the big one against New Zealand. There were a lot of positives to take out of that first half. How can the team build on them to take on the All Blacks?
We played them twice in the summer. In the first test we pushed them hard in the first half. The second half was a bit of a thumping. The second test was a lot closer so we can take a bit of confidence out of that second test in New Zealand. We’re building now, getting better and better as the weeks go on so, if on the day things go our way, who knows what can happen?
You came up against them in the summer in New Zealand, what is it like facing up to that Haka?
It was great. We’ve come up against it once before in the Millennium Stadium here and it’s an awesome feeling. It is pretty intimidating and really gets your heart pumping and gets you up for the test match. I think it’s a great thing and it should never be taken out of rugby. If I’m in the squad for a week Saturday I’ll look forward to facing it again.
You played the full 80 against Australia and got a taste of the atmosphere against South Africa, if only a brief spell on as a blood replacement for Tom Shanklin. Can you describe the intensity you felt at the Millennium Stadium?
We haven’t had any sell outs yet. We had about 50,000 in and the fans that have turned up have been really great. They’ve really brought some great atmosphere to the ground which really pushes on the players and adds to the intensity and spurs the players on.
Your club, Ospreys, won convincingly against Leicester in the LV Cup on Friday night. How is your season going?
I think it’s been pretty good so far. I’m pretty happy with my form. I’m happy playing with James [Hook] in the centre there. While I’ve been with Wales recently the other players are doing well and I just hope I get given a chance on Friday night now.
And in the Europe you’ve got a frightening group with Munster, Toulon and London Irish yet sit in second with five points. Are you confident for progression?
Yeah. It is a difficult tournament and we have got one of the toughest groups probably but we’ve been in tough groups before and got out of them. The boys know what it takes to get out of a group play-off and those two matches coming up against Munster are going to be difficult but we know what we have to do. The boys are quite confident of qualifying.
One of your former teammates has been all over the news lately. Of course I’m speaking about Gavin Henson. What do you make of his switch to Saracens and what can he offer the national side?
I think all the boys are happy to see him playing rugby again. I’m not sure exactly when he’s going to be playing but he’s kept himself in good shape, kept himself fit by the looks of it and I think everyone here is happy he’s playing again. We’ll have to wait and see what his form is like. If he’s playing well there’s no doubt he’ll have a call up so we just have to wait and see.
Have you kept in touch with him personally?
No I haven’t spoken to him for a while. I think he’s probably changed his number a couple times.
So you haven’t had a word with him about his Strictly Come Dancing form? Not really up to scratch is it?
He’s doing alright. He’s getting better as the weeks go on. He’s doing OK.
We’ve been speaking to a few of the England boys recently and the subject of initiation traditions came up, including Ugo Monye singing Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...Are there any such tales you can reveal? What does the initiation for the Wales squad involve?
The tradition for the first cap is always to give a song in front of everyone. There have been a couple of crackers but I don’t think any really stand out. I think I sang You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’. Almost couldn’t remember the name – think a couple beers helped me on the day.
Aah! That 1964 classic by the Righteous Brothers made even more famous by Goose and Tom Cruise’s Maverick in Top Gun...where were we? Oh yeah, so looking to the future, what does the next 12 months hold in store for Welsh Rugby?
In the Heineken Cup the Cardiff Blues are in good form at the moment with us and the Scarlets also playing well. Hopefully one of the Welsh clubs will do well in that. There is a possibility of one of the clubs winning with them in such good form.
With Wales everyone’s looking forward to the World Cup in New Zealand. Everyone’s really hoping to put in good performances in the Six Nations and it’s going to be a huge tournament for everyone. I think everyone’s looking forward to what’s ahead.
For you personally, what are your goals over the next year?
Play well for the Ospreys, keep playing well there and hopefully get on that plane to New Zealand. That’s the main goal for me. If I can get there it will be a huge achievement for me. If I can do that I’ll be happy.
To read Sport.co.uk's other interviews with promising Welsh youngsters Dan Lydiate and Sam Warburton just follow the links.
Andrew Bishop was speaking on behalf of the Wales Rugby team and their hydration partner, Powerade. For more information and hydration tips visit www.poweradegb.com