Making the best of bad blood

Much has been made of Warren Gatland’s acrimonious relationship with Ireland boss Eddie O’Sullivan, but Wales’s team manager and selector Alan Phillips has sought to add some focus.

Phillips, a former Lions and Wales hooker, was blunt when asked his thoughts on the spat and whether the pair’s past grievances would be affect the match. “No,” he said. “They’re not playing, are they?”

He was equally to the point when pressed for a response to Rory Best’s comments this week that Wales were yet to be properly tested.

“You didn’t see the England game did you?” said Phillips. “At half time I thought that was a proper test.”

Wales trailed England 16-6 at Twickenham at half time before staging a memorable comeback to banish a 20-year HQ hoodoo, 26-19. Test enough to dismiss Best’s remarks.

Welsh back row Jonathan Thomas said: “He’s entitled to his opinion, but every Six Nations game is a big test, especially away against England.”

Phillips, won 18 Wales caps between 1979-87, made a further seven appearances from the bench and was appointed the Wales team manager in 2002.

He has seen the full gamut of Welsh performances including the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups and the 2005 Grand Slam. But even Phillips has been surprised by Gatland’s impact and managerial style and has been delighted at his handling of the media and their “Welsh obsession”.

“It is the first campaign I have been in where a newspaper has not got the team right,” he said.

If Gatland picks the right team to get the best of Ireland, the Welsh obsession might just ratchet up a notch ahead of Wales’s final encounter against France.