Comment: England's shame highlights how Wales have got it so right - WalesOnline

AS England's World Cup dirty linen was yesterday being aired with what – for rugby union at least – was an almost unprecedented shock factor, Shaun Edwards, who looked every inch like a man satisfied with a good decision, was asked for a verdict on the state of the Red Rose set-up.

The Wales defence coach, fresh from having penned a new four-year contract and having decided not to pursue possible options at Twickenham, raised his right hand and pointed to the three feathers on the breast of his tracksuit top.

"What does that say?" he asked rhetorically, "WRU."

In other words, "not my problem guv."

And you couldn't really blame him for not wanting to touch with a barge-pole the subject of a report detailing player reactions to England's New Zealand debacle, which were leaked to the Times newspaper and could scarcely have been more scathing about the way Martin Johnson's regime functioned.

Wales actually featured in one of the more tepid snippets that found its way into the public domain, as one player used Warren Gatland's squad to highlight the breakdown of relations between the England camp and the media.

"I watched the coaches umming and ahhing for ages about whether to let Nick Mullins and Phil Vickery (the ITV commentators) watch training," said the quote which, like the rest of the feedback was not attributed to a specific individual.

"The next day, the same commentators go to Wales and get made a cup of tea and welcomed in. Is it any wonder they feel like we treat them like s*** and do the same back to us?"

At least we know that bit is true because it was verified at Wales' Vale Resort headquarters yesterday, where the press were invited to talk to Shane Williams, Edwards, and three other team members – plates of chocolate chip cookies and jugs of coffee available.

Apparently, team manager Alan Phillips made Vickery his tea when he turned up at their New Zealand base, before Gatland invited him onto the training pitch where the 2003 World Cup winner delivered an impromptu talk to the Welsh boys.

So just what Johnson and his cohorts were worried about, heaven only knows.

If there is a deeper significance to the welcome Vickery and Mullins received by Wales compared to the paranoia that denied them access to the English, then it is that whereas the one camp was happy, relaxed, comfortable and confident in what they were doing, the other was on edge, riven by self-doubt and seeing shadows where none really existed.

Look at the summary of remarks on these pages and you'll quickly conclude that the above is kids' stuff compared to some of the more vitriolic conclusions reached by Englishmen who just weeks ago queued up to denounce the idea that all was far from well.

The RFU has already announced an investigation into how such dynamite got into journalistic hands, and the players have every right to feel let down after what they thought would remain private has now become fair game for every media outlet under the sun.

But the damage can't be undone now – and boy is there some damage.

There are accusations that players were more interested in money than winning games – which former captain Lewis Moody has since fiercely denied.

There are claims of management shortcomings in virtually every facet of their respective jobs imaginable, with some of the comments about Johnson's assistants, Brian Smith, John Wells and Dave Alred, utterly withering.

The alleged lack of leadership skills between Johnson and Moody, considered two warriors of the sport, are truly jolting, as are the claims about attitudes to drinking and training.

"There was a culture where it was not cool to train hard. What happened to the culture where everyone was training to be the best in the world?"

If there is any truth in a contention like that, then in an environment supposed to be as stridently professional as the English rugby team, it is truly astonishing.

Wisely, Wales kept their counsel on the controversy, possibly concluding that there but for the grace of God....

There's no suggestion at all that any of these toxic elements are present in Gatland's squad, in fact all the evidence suggests the buoyant harmony produced by their charge to the World Cup semi-finals is deep-rooted.

Nevertheless yesterday's eruption the other side of the Severn Bridge is an indication of how quickly an atmosphere can sour in the Test arena.

Aren't England the Six Nations champions? Were they not, to a man, crowing about having turned a corner only last summer?

Now the RFU is tasked not merely with finding a replacement for Johnson, but with ripping up everything that their elite set-up has stood for and starting from scratch.

Welsh supporters should, however, resist any temptation to gloat over the old enemy's embarrassing demise.

As well as the old adage about never knowing what lies around the corner, there are the lessons from history for Wales to remember amid the present English chaos.

Truth is, the tone of some of yesterday's bombshells very much carried echoes of past Welsh humiliations.

Try the 1991 tour of Australia for starters, when Wales were annihilated 63-6 at Ballymore before fighting amongst themselves at the post-match buffet, bread rolls hurtling through the air.

They returned to bitter recriminations about the entire approach to the international game, not to mention the removal of coach Ron Waldron.

Then there was the fiasco of the 1995 World Cup, when, under caretaker Alec Evans, there were tales of a collapse in discipline characterised by heavy drinking among some players. Almost inevitably, Wales, having fired coach Alan Davies months before the start of the tournament, bombed out before the knockout stages.

And what about the unedifying business of Ruddockgate in early 2006, not even 12 months, lest we forget, after Wales had won a first Grand Slam in 27 years?

Several players eventually went on record criticising Ruddock's methods, the now Ireland Under-21s coach responding with his own version of events.

But the whole sorry business had outsiders tut-tutting about yet another Wales implosion, and the damage wasn't properly repaired until Roger Lewis arrived as chief executive with a new approach, leading quickly to the brilliant appointment of Warren Gatland, who made a stunning impact in 2008.

Before that, the 2007 World Cup failure, complete with infamous humiliation at Fijian hands, led to an extended post-mortem into every conceivable shortcoming in the Welsh game, even if evidence of squad in-fighting was thin on the ground.

Such dark times just exemplify the cyclical nature of all sporting environments.

England's shame surely tells us that the greatest current challenge for Wales lies not in necessarily sweeping all before them in next year's Six Nations, but in preserving the equilibrium and unity of purpose that they currently possess.

They can be elusive elements. And we only need to glance eastwards to see the catastrophic effects losing them can have.

As the London-based Press Association concluded yesterday: "With Wales, everything emanates from the top with Gatland and Warburton, and everyone has bought into it – players, support staff, media department – and a 24-year best World Cup performance illustrates that perfectly.

"There are no new ideas, only reheated ones, and the RFU needs to swallow some humble pie, look at what Gatland and the Welsh Rugby Union's chief executive Roger Lewis have done, and then adopt a fresh, invigorating approach with the England squad.

"Like Wales, England have some outstanding players. Like Wales, they possess some gifted young talent. Unlike Wales, England's World Cup selectors and strategists were seemingly paralysed by fear."

Next page: What the shocking leaked report reveals

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