Tandy 'needs help' - Wales' hunt for defence coach

ByDafydd Pritchard

BBC Sport Wales

Steve Tandy needs help. As head coach of a crisis-ridden Wales side plunging to new depths every time they take to the field, that much is obvious.

Specifically, according to two Welsh rugby greats, Tandy needs the support of a full-time defence coach.

His work as defence coach for Scotland impressed enough to earn the same role with the British and Irish Lions, so Tandy was expected to tighten things up for Wales when he took the reins last September.

Yet their has been little case for the defence with Wales.

In his first six games in charge - albeit including the world's top four teams in their last four Tests - Tandy's Wales have conceded a staggering 302 points and 42 tries.

The latest battering, Sunday's 54-12 mauling by France in Cardiff, leaves Wales bottom of the Six Nations having already shipped 102 points. No team has conceded more in the opening two rounds of the competition in 25 years.

Tandy has confirmed Wales will have a specialist defence coach by the summer but the timing of that appointment - and who makes it - has been questioned.

Wales have full-time attack and forwards coaches in the form of Matt Sherratt and Danny Wilson, but Tandy only has the temporary support of Dan Lydiate – still very early in his coaching career – in defence.

Juggling that work with his head coach duties, Tandy might be spreading himself too thinly, according to former Wales captains Sam Warburton and Alun Wyn Jones.

"Mid-season it's hard to transition and get someone in," Tandy told BBC Sport.

"It's something we're working hard to have a look at and, probably by the summer, we'll have an option then.

"It isn't a quick fix. It's something we need to layer and build towards the future."

Warburton won two Six Nations titles, including a Grand Slam, with a Wales team built on the rock-solid defensive foundation provided by Shaun Edwards, who now holds that role for France.

The former Wales captain said Tandy needs help with defence.

"Steve's admitted he's probably spread himself a bit too thinly," Warburton told BBC Sport.

"He's been doing the defence with Dan Lydiate but then you're trying to do the defence with all the other things that come with being a head coach.

"Dan is more the micro defensive skills [such as] tackle technique, competition on the floor.

"Wales don't have a full-time defence coach [and] it's not just about being a coach during campaign time. When the players are playing for their clubs, you're there full-time, watching the regions play, or the Welsh-qualified players playing in England, and you can still keep dialogue and send clips.

"He needs to bring in a defence coach [but] it sounds like they can't get people out of their contracts because it's difficult to bring people in mid-season.

"For someone to come in as a full-time defence coach, they need to be tried and tested at this level."

When taking his role as Welsh Rugby Union's director of rugby last July, Dave Reddin said Tandy would "not solely select" his coaching team but would be involved in the process.

He added: "It's about getting the right people in those spots as opposed to just getting the next people. It might well be that people are in position already and we need to be a bit more patient."

Whoever that new appointment might be, Alun Wyn Jones believes his former Ospreys team-mate Tandy should have the biggest say in the matter.

"Steve needs to be able to oversee everything and get others to focus on those areas," he said.

"The bigger question I'd ask: Is he going to appoint his own defence coach?

"There have been questions around that, as opposed to other people in the organisation. That's the most important thing – he's got to be able to pick his own staff.

"He's got a great grip of the defence, but you can't spread yourself too thinly in that position."