Troubled Taylor caught in balancing act

Six Nations: Game's financial crisis casts a shadow over two midfield talents at opposite ends of their careers

Mark Taylor, like almost everybody else in Wales, awaits the next twist in a horror story without end.

"Oh God,'' he said. "I wish I knew what's going to happen. It's a very worrying time.'' Taylor's personal journey has already taken him from the ridiculous to the sublime and back again, and now he is carrying extra baggage.

After Wales had lost their third successive match in the Six Nations, to Scotland at Murrayfield last week, Taylor was summoned to a meeting by his club, Swansea, who announced they were going into administration.

"It was a bit of a shock,'' said Taylor, who is the players' representative. With losses exceeding £1 million, Swansea have reacted to the proposed restructuring, in which the premier clubs, operating beneath four regions, would receive funding of just £50,000 a season. It means that outside the top tier the game would not be semi-professional. It would be back to amateurism with some beer money.

"The WRU have stated it is up to the clubs to handle their own liabilities in the wake of regional teams being formed,'' Roger Blyth, the Swansea chairman, said, "and no compensation will be on offer. From the end of this season we will have less overall income than 20 years ago, and we would be acting unlawfully to continue to trade in our current position.''

The squad will be reduced, salaries slashed. Taylor's phone hasn't stopped ringing. "If players have to go we are trying to ensure they don't go with nothing. The club need to stay alive to share in whatever the future holds.'' And that, of course, is by no means clear. The WRU have a sanction for four regional teams, but Llanelli and Cardiff are threatening legal action. There isn't much time.

Officials need to know by 2 April in what form Wales will be represented in next season's European Cup. Compared to the bigger picture, that is almost a minor consideration. The WRU are close to their overdraft limit and have big creditors in Barclays Bank and BT. When the WRU lost an appeal last week in a case involving a young hooker who was paralysed following a collapsed scrum, the judge pointed out that the Court of Appeal could not take judicial notice of the parlous state of the WRU finances. The sale of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff could be next.

As a chartered accountant, Taylor is in a better position than most to read a balance sheet. He was one of the few wise men not to give up the day job. With a degree in economics from Southampton University, he worked for PriceWaterhouseCooper, but balancing a career with inter-national rugby became a bit too much. Now he works, when he can, for a Peugeot dealership in Llanelli. "If Swansea go part-time I might be able to put in more hours in the office. I find it a total release from rugby. It gives me something else to think about.''

Taylor, 30 last month, followed his father, Ivor, and brother Paul into the Pontypool side and made his Test debut against South Africa in 1994. "Pontypool were relegated and I was told that if I wanted to progress I had to move on, so I joined Swansea. I didn't play for Wales for another three years.''

The Springboks loom large in his CV. The ridiculous was reached in Pretoria in 1998, when Wales lost 96-13. "It was hideous,'' Taylor said. "I didn't expect to have another shot at it, but then Graham Henry came along with a clean slate and showed confidence in me.''

The sublime arrived in June 1999, when Henry's reign was taking on a religious fervour. Who scored the first try at the newly opened Millennium Stadium? Taylor, that's who, contributing to a 29-19 victory, Wales's first over South Africa. The following year he captained Wales against Samoa and the US, scoring a try in each game before rupturing a knee ligament. Still Henry kept faith with him, taking him on the Lions tour to Australia, where the all-Ireland centre pairing of Brian O'Driscoll and Rob Henderson kept him out of the Test side.

Taylor has already renewed acquaintance with O'Driscoll this season, for Swansea against Leinster, and next Saturday will be opposite the Ireland captain when Wales, green with envy, will attempt to do something about the Irish bandwagon.

"In terms of population we can never compete with England and France, but the Irish have got the results and have really grown. I'd put them in the top five in the world. They're a good role model for Wales to look at," Taylor said.

"I don't have enough praise for O'Driscoll. He's got the lot. His lightning speed off the mark enables him to get out of any situation. He's the catalyst for most of the things they do. On the Lions tour he was so successful I was thinking, 'You bastard', but he fully deserves the recognition. We have a decent relationship. It's difficult not to get on with an Irishman, isn't it?"

Back in the realms of the ridiculous, Taylor, who missed the autumn internationals and the débâcle against Italy, reappeared against England in Cardiff last month. Just before half-time he burst through the English midfield and only Jason Robinson stood between him and the line.

On the left wing was Rhys Williams and the talking point of the match was: why didn't Taylor pass? "I took some flak,'' he said. "Rhys was there but not quite there, and when Robinson turned his back on me to cover Rhys I thought to myself, I've got to go for it. It was not quite two on one and Robinson did very well. I should have straightened him up. I made the wrong decision, but I don't lose sleep over it.''

Wales, who have had three captains in three games, are looking at a whitewash, and the coach, Steve Hansen, is coming under increasing pressure. "We've got young players in key positions,'' Taylor said, "and potentially it's a very good side. We haven't taken any heavy beatings but we need a win. Our success will come from ourselves.

"Despite all the difficulties Hansen has created a good atmosphere. Believe it or not, this is the closest-knit squad I have ever been involved in.''