Rugby League World Cup 2013: Wales coach Iestyn Harris hopeful of causing ...

It will not be easy, and Harris is determined his team perform to their

potential; he is still living with the consequences of being part of a Wales

team who did not.

It was 1995. He was only 19, a promising youngster in a team of brilliance.

Wales had reached the semi-finals of the Centenary World Cup, and were to

play England at Old Trafford.

“It was a glorious period for Wales rugby league,” he says. “We had Jonathan

Davies, Scott Quinnell, Allan Bateman, Rowland Phillips, lots of ex-rugby

union players who had come to league to earn a living. It was very, very

special. But we should have gone on to win. Yes, it was a great experience

and I got to play with all these greats, but you probably only get one time

in your career that you are in a team that can win, and we let it slip

through our fingers because of a lack of professionalism, and that is one of

my biggest regrets.” He sips at his americano.

“The game was in a transitional period, it had started to come through from

winter to summer, there was more money coming in, the drinking culture was

starting to disappear.

“In ’95 we had a group of players who were phenomenally talented but our

nutrition wasn’t right, our drinking wasn’t right, myself included. If we’d

been a little bit more professional … but,” he shrugs ruefully “you can’t

change the past.” He smiles and the creases round his eyes wrinkle.

Harris always felt Welsh, supported Wales in the Five Nations, despite growing

up in Oldham. His grandmother was Welsh, as was his grandfather, a miner who

played union for Newbridge, moved up from South Wales in 1946 when he

accompanied a friend to a trial at Oldham and got selected himself – part of

the long history of Welsh rugby union players moving north to play league

and earn a wage.

That link between Wales and rugby league largely disappeared when rugby union

went professional in 1995. But Harris wanted it back – he did not want to

coach a team stuffed full of NRL or Super League players with vague Welsh

ancestry. And, despite the failure of the Celtic Crusaders rugby league

club, based in Bridgend, things are changing.

“Wales is a little bit different to everywhere else, everyone grows up with a

rugby ball,” Harris says. “They’re sublimely skilful but don’t know the

rules of rugby league and we’ve got to try and entice them over.

“The talent is there, we’ve probably got more people who play rugby union in

Wales than rugby league in the north of England. In our [under-]16s group

we’ve got four or five who chose league over union because they could see

the progression plan through to Super League, which is a big improvement

from us as a governing body.”

That path to Super League improved further with the opening of the Maesteg

academy last month, which helps talented teenagers with both rugby and

qualifications. It was set up in conjunction with Wigan, where Harris has

been assistant coach for two years.

Harris says: “I spoke to Ian Lenagan [Wigan’s chairman] about the depth of

talent in South Wales, about how when the Crusaders disappeared, the

players’ future platform was taken away from them. It was important that

players coming through had somewhere to progress to.”

There is now a sprinkling of Welsh players in Super League. Two forwards, Gil

Dudson and Ben Flower, played in the Wigan team who won the Challenge Cup

and Grand Final double this season, and Harris mentions Warrington centre

Rhys Evans as “an exceptional talent”.

Even this week two more signed part-time contracts to play for Barrow in the

Championship.

There has been talk that Harris will switch codes again – he has been linked

with the job of backs coach at the Cardiff Blues. But for now he is focused

only on one thing. He unfolds his huge arms for the first time in an hour.

“If we can get out of our group, then that takes us to a quarter-final against

potentially England or Australia and then it becomes a 50/50 game.

“That’ll be a special moment for everyone to do with Welsh rugby league, then

you get a chance to do something exceptional. But there is a lot of hard

work to do before then.” A lot of hard work, and the dentist.

Article source: http://www.dailypost.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/toby-faletau-backs-wales-rugby-6235794

Rugby League World Cup 2013: Wales coach Iestyn Harris hopeful of causing ...