Quieter now in the valleys

By TIM GLOVER

Wales, the first of the home countries to arrive in Australia, have been swimming with the fishes.

After landing in Sydney, they became acquainted with sharks and stingrays in Manly Aquarium. Quoted at 250-to-1 by the bookmakers, Wales are regarded as one of the minnows in the World Cup.

It was a different story when the tournament was launched Downunder in 1987. For all bar New Zealand, it was a voyage of discovery.

"Most of the teams had just a couple of training sessions and then arrived at the tournament," said Richard Moriarty, the Swansea lock who captained Wales 16 years ago.

"The All Blacks were something else. They were professional in everything they did eight years before the game went professional. They had left nothing to chance, they were very fit and athletic and were basically operating on a different scale to everybody else.

"What was also an eye-opener was that their players were everywhere - in television commercials, on the radio and on advertising posters. You couldn't escape them. The talk was that half-a-dozen of them were on their way to their first million."

The Welsh players, on the other hand, were so strapped for cash they sold their alternative kit - green jerseys instead of the traditional red - to any interested buyer.

"I thought our squad was as good as most," Moriarty said.

"We had a strong pack and exciting young backs like Jonathan Davies, Ieuan Evans and John Devereux. I thought we were capable of reaching the last four."

On a foul day in Wellington - one of the spectators huddled in the stand was Spike Milligan - Wales beat Ireland 13-6, and then Tonga 29-16 in a ferocious encounter at Palmerston North. Bridgend wing Glen Webbe, the victim of a flying head-butt, and prop Stuart Evans were invalided out of the tournament.

Wales got to the last eight with a 40-9 victory over Canada, Ieuan Evans scoring four tries.

Wales flew to Brisbane for the quarter-final against England, who had a low-key build-up in Australia.

"The English players were banging their own drum but I was confident that we were better than them," Moriarty said. "England were not a daunting proposition."

Wales, with the help of a Devereux intercept, won 16-3.

England, inconsolable, had reached rock bottom, but almost from that day on the fortunes of the two countries would take a dramatic turn.

While England went home to embark on a radical overhaul, Wales were smashed 49-6 by the All Blacks in the semifinals, a traumatic result that was camouflaged by a 22-21 win over the Wallabies for third place.

This month, Wales and England are scheduled to meet again in the quarter-finals.

In Pool D, Wales are expected to finish runners-up to New Zealand by beating Canada, Tonga and Italy.

At least, that's the goal of their coach, New Zealander Steve Hansen, although he admits that, in world terms, "we are not at the top, we are not at the bottom, we are somewhere in between".

Wales have a curious itinerary.

They travelled from Sydney to Canberra by bus and will journey to Melbourne this week, where they play Canada on October 12. Then it's back to the capital to prepare for the Tongans.

- INDEPENDENT