Wales Coaching Faces Review As Heat on Jenkins Intensifies

The Welsh Rugby Union will conduct a review of the national coaching team after the World Cup with media pressure mounting on the governing body to jettison the head coach, Gareth Jenkins. The union insists it will take its own course of action, conscious that the revolving-door policy operated in the past - 12 head coaches in 21 years - has helped to create a mire of mediocrity.

Jenkins's contract runs out at the end of next year's Six Nations. He wants to extend it, arguing that after only 16 months in the job he has not had the time to mold the squad in his own image. Wales have gone into every World Cup with a relatively new coach in charge and, apart from the inaugural tournament, they have failed to progress beyond the quarter-final stage.

The media gave Jenkins a mauling after last Saturday's defeat to Australia, never mind that Wales's record against the major southern hemisphere sides is little short of dire: one victory against the Wallabies in the last 20 years, only one against South Africa in 101 years of trying and a run of defeats against New Zealand stretching back to 1953.

Anything but a convincing victory this evening over Japan will lead to more pressure on him. "We need a dose of realism in Wales," he said. "We are trying to put blocks in place, such as establishing a strong and meaningful relationship with our regions that will sustain us in the long-term. I always knew that it would be difficult taking over with a relatively short time to prepare for the World Cup, but I believe we have made progress.

"Much of the media coverage has been personal. I have been around long enough to be able to deal with that, but what I take great exception to is the attempt to drive a wedge between players and coaches. Long gone are the days when one man was in charge and told everyone what to do. Ours is a collective effort with players having a significant input into how we are trying to play the game. I would like to stay in the job long enough to do it justice."

Jenkins has been accused of abandoning the free-flowing style which was the hallmark of the side which won the grand slam and replacing it with a more structured approach. "The players and the coaches are together in how we want to play," said tonight's captain, Stephen Jones. "What was good enough in 2005 is out of date today. People forget that in 2006 we continued the policy of throwing the ball around from everywhere, but it served only to make us one-dimensional and predictable. You have to move on."