Williams sees a glimmer through Wales' gloom

Message has got through at last says Cardiff's stalwart, and change can now happen

Something odd happened at Cardiff a fortnight ago. The club once proclaimed as the world's biggest lost at home to Biarritz in the Heineken Cup. But that was not it. The unusual aspect was the almost deferential acceptance among the Arms Park fraternity that the result was no surprise. When a man as big-hearted and stout of wind and limb as Martyn Williams, Cardiff's captain, looks you in the eye and says: "The best team won", it is as noteworthy, probably more so, as a tub-thumping "We wuz robbed".

Williams is a Welsh player who has consistently fulfilled his potential. A rare beast, some might say. He won the league with his home-town side, Ponty-pridd, before moving to Cardiff in 1999, where he has helped cut through the capital club's reputation for divisive cliques. He beat off rivals such as Scotland's Budge Pountney to tour with the 2001 Lions, and sat on the bench for all three Tests.

At 27, he has 24 caps, and he is likely to be Wales's openside flanker against Romania on Friday night, alongside the skipper, Colin Charvis, and Ponty's Michael Owen, in the first of four internationals which culminate with the All Blacks on 23 November.

Williams is, in short, neither the type to shout from the rooftops, nor spit out a dummy, chuck in a towel, or jettison any toys from a metaphorical pram. The reality check he demonstrated in the wake of the Biarritz result is indicative of a new attitude at his club and, it appears at long last, the Welsh Rugby Union. It has to be a welcome sign, as a wearying public awaits the findings of the WRU's latest working party established to restructure the game.

"We know that people are on a bit of a downer with the rugby," Williams said, "and as players we find it frustrating, because we all give our best every week. But we have got the players to compete, it's just getting the structure in place. Thinking back to the Lions, there were great players out there, but I believe the Welsh players were as good, and are as good. The big thing is confidence. We get knocked so much that you start to think you're not that good. If we can get a couple of results, players will start to relax, and be themselves. That's what would happen if we had our best players in the best teams, doing well in Europe. It would have an effect internationally."

The powers-that-be appear to concur. In September, Glanmor Griffiths, the WRU chairman, announced the working party and promised "a blank sheet of paper and a totally open mind". This week, prompted by the weak results of the Welsh sides in Europe, there was another Griffiths missive. It stated that "the working party will be seeking to achieve a structure which concentrates the money and talent in Welsh rugby, so our teams can be successful in the Celtic and European competitions, and our international sides can achieve sustainable success."

The recommendation to the management board in December, and subsequently the rank and file in January, is likely to be for either amalgamated super-clubs, or regionally selected teams, to be entered into Europe and possibly the Celtic League next season.

The Wales squad have been encouraged not to be too candid in their views, but Williams greets the prospect of change with relief. "I think it has come to the stage now when you realise, with the club sides, that we no longer have the strength in depth in Wales to be able to compete. Whether it is super-clubs, or provincial, I think if we did have that kind of system, we could definitely compete in Europe, because most sides will tell you that it's the strength throughout the squad that lets you down. English clubs can afford to have really strong squads, and the provinces in Ireland and Scotland have strength in depth, and so too the French clubs. It's been said a million times, but the players are too spread out in Wales."

The disconcerting possibility that the rump of Wales's 239 clubs could yet veto the proposals is said to be receding. The bad times have concentrated minds. Williams was involved when the so-called Great Redeemer, Graham Henry, bit the dust after the 54-10 defeat by Ireland in February. He was there too, in the summer, when a two-Test trip to South Africa under new coach Steve Hansen began to revive morale. The tour squad has largely been retained; Sonny Parker, the Pontypridd centre from New Zealand, is one of four uncapped players in the 30 who meet up today. They will discuss with team manager Alan Phillips a revised scheme of appearance fees and win bonuses. The revision is likely to be downwards.

When Williams was at Pontypridd, they contested several tight matches with Bath and Brive in the season that the latter two reached the Heineken Cup final. "I won't say we've gone backwards in Wales," he reflected. "The best way of putting it is that the others have gone forward a little bit, whereas we have stood still. The finances of the English game, with the national side doing so well, means they're pumping money in, whereas in Wales our squads are not as strong as they should be. I'm sure they'll sort it out here. We have the enthusiasm, it's just getting someone to pull us all in the right direction."

Williams has seen the ecstatic response of the Welsh public to a winning football team, but he is convinced that the support for rugby endures. "People say that if there are super-clubs, or provinces, in Europe, no one will watch. I disagree. We're such a sport-loving country that, if we're successful, people will come and watch, no matter where you're from. If you see a top-quality Welsh side, provincial or super-club, against one from Ireland, or a top English side, you'll get massive crowds down here. For the benefit of the Welsh game, and the national side, it's got to be done."