Wales look set for a biblical bashing against Springboks

Many a frustrated writer in search of a metaphor has plucked from the passages of 1 Samuel in the past but this week, the tale of David and Goliath feels apt.

- HARRY LATHAM-COYLE

Cast, naturally, in the role of the feared Philistine giant are the world champion Springboks; playing their part as the young, overmatched shepherd are a Wales side beaten in their last 11 games and swallowing down nervously the reality that an entire calendar year without a win beckons.

David was at least armed with a staff, five stones and a slingshot; in their current configuration, Warren Gatland’s side look comparatively underpowered. Harmonious elegies seem to play each time a callow side venture in to the grounds of their once intimidating Cardiff castle, mournful howls from the bastions from a public by now expecting little – and yet still finding themselves disappointed.

In the past two weeks, the situation in Wales has gone from faintly diverting to simply sad. If defeat to Fiji was emblematic of a team lacking in talent and leadership, the 52-20 collapse against Australia seemed to show a side that, while retaining corporeal form, had been drained entirely of its spirit.

Gatland himself has taken on husk-like qualities at various times this year, his recent moments of levity and light seeming to come when considering a future beyond his current role rather than the task at hand. The infighting that typifies such a sorry situation has begun – Jamie Roberts, Mike Phillips and Alex Cuthbert were among those to criticise their former head coach, favourite sons squabbling with a patriarch who once made the Welsh rugby family flourish.