In his Christmas Message, the Group CEO claims the unseen and unheralded behind the scenes work at the WRU over the past twelve months is set to reap rewards from 2008.
WRU Audio: Roger Lewis’s Christmas Message
“It has been a challenging year for everyone involved in Welsh rugby and particularly with the national team. The RBS Six Nations was disappointing and the Rugby World Cup was not what we had hoped it would be,” he told the fans. “But we can still look back on 2007 as a very important year for Welsh rugby. It has been a year in which we have started to address the tough questions and taken some very difficult decisions. It has been a year in which we have laid the foundations for the future success of our game.
“We are in the middle of a review of the Elite game and we are also reviewing the grass roots game and the Premiership, which is the bridge between the two. These reviews are already shaping our thinking and the results will be published early in the New Year. We have a new coach in Warren Gatland, who is already he is making major waves in the Elite game. He is speaking and working with the four regional coaches and is shaping his team to drive the national team forward, but not only a team to work with the national team, but also a team that is connected with the whole of the Elite game in Wales.
“We have recognised over the course of the year, and particularly in recent months, that we needed to join up the thinking in our game. We need to join up our thinking within the academies, within the age grades, within the sevens and the regions. Partnership is going to be the key word in the future. The Union and the four Regions working together. There is a relationship here that is so critically important for us all. We can only exist with each other and together we will be strong.
“That is going to be the theme of the year ahead – it truly is working in partnership with everyone for the best interest of Welsh rugby. Putting in place the systems and structures that will drive the strategy forward for years to come. It’s all about long term thinking.”
Having put in place a new team at WRU headquarters over the past year, Lewis says that 2008 will be geared to what happens on the field.
“We are totally focussed on what happens on the field – getting it right on the field is vitally important,” he says. “We are in the eye of a bit of a storm at the moment. We have identified the people we need to put in place to support Warren and we are trying to bring them to the fore, which is proving to be a bit of a challenge contractually. I am confident that in the New Year things will become clearer and that we will be able to move forward with a greater degree of confidence.
“Our thinking has got to be about the next four or five years, while our actions have to be about the next match; and that next match is at Twickenham on 2nd February against England; a place we haven’t won for twenty years. I know that Warren is relishing that experience and I know he will put together a team of players and coaches what will approach that particularly fortress with renewed confidence and vigour.
“A lot depends on Warren, but it is not just about him. We have got to build the right team around Warren and grow in the future. He is the right man for us and he is thinking about everything around the national set-up. The environment he creates for the players is going to be vital. He is a tough, no-nonsense talking Kiwi who knows that when you win you can celebrate, but when you lose you keep your head down.”
With so much rugby to look forward to in 2008, Mr Lewis has a special word of praise for the Welsh fans.
“The Welsh fans are fantastic – the best in the world. Just look at us when we go away and when the Lions tour – it is a sea of red,” he says. “My message to them all is ‘Keep the faith’. We are on the next stage of our journey now. Tickets for our three RBS Six Nations home games are going well and there is so much rugby to look forward to here at the Millennium Stadium.
“As well as our three home games in the RBS Six Nations we have the Heineken Cup final in May. Then we are off to South Africa for two Tests in June and we are also hosting the IRB Junior World Championships for the first time.
“In the Autumn, New Zealand are coming back along with the Springboks and Canada. And there might be another surprise to come there awe well. We are improving day by day, although make no bones about it, 2008 is going to be another tough and challenging year. There is a lot more work to be done. We aren’t going to get things right in days or months, it is going to take some time to fix, but we are going to get it right for the future of Welsh rugby.”
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
