Mostly a matter of image

If Gavin Hastings were Stephen Fry, he would have disappeared two months ago, never to be seen again, at any rate on a rugby field. A few indifferent performances behind a dispirited team released a flood of metaphors, chiefly to do with old age (though Gerald Davies and Jeff Probyn, to name but two, continued to play distinguished international rugby well after they had attained Hastings' present 33 years).

Zimmer frames, bus passes, and sunset homes were all called in aid. Indeed, I thought my more exuberant colleagues were at risk, not so much from Hastings and his team-mates, as from whatever pressure groups there may be which have taken it upon themselves to safeguard the interests and sensitivities of the old.

The remarks, in short, smacked of ageism. I write as a grandfather and a holder of a Senior Rail Card, though for how much longer that concession will last under the new railway dispensation is anyone's guess.

Apart from this consideration, I do not believe in being offensive about players. They are not like politicians. They are not even like actors or actresses. They are young men who play a game partly for enjoyment, partly for the chance of personal glory.

This does not mean that one cannot make jokes about them. Elgan Rees's inability either to take a pass or to hold on to the ball if he had somehow managed to catch it, was itself a joke. It was legitimate to point out these failings of his.

Just as some players, such as Hastings, temporarily become the butt of heavy humour, so others are perpetually treated as sacred objects. An example of the latter is Ieuan Evans. He is a great player. He is also one who, like Dean Richards, gives confidence to those around him. He has shown immense courage in returning to the game, not only after his most recent and most horrific injury, but after a whole series of previous injuries, chiefly to his shoulder.

The truth is, however, that against England he had a dreadful match. Not only did he drop a perfectly good pass of Robert Jones's which, with a conversion by Neil Jenkins, would have levelled the scores at 10-10. He also let in Rory Underwood for two tries. I write "let in" in the sense that it was by no means inevitable that Underwood should have scored either, certainly the first of them.

This is not to say that Evans should have been dropped for the Scottish match, though even greater players have suffered that fate. Bleddyn Williams, for example, did not appear once for Wales in 1950 and in the two succeeding seasons won only three caps. And he, unlike Evans, was not injured all the time. In those days Welsh players did not seem to be injured so much.

Alan Davies has played safe in bringing in Matthew Back and Wayne Proctor in place, respectively, of the injured Anthony Clement and Nigel Walker. He has been more adventurous in picking Spencer John to replace the suspended John Davies at tight-head prop. Could he not have been more adventurous still about the outside-half position? Of course, Jenkins must be somewhere in the Welsh side. Over the past few seasons, he has been the indispensable player. In the last three internationals, against South Africa, France and England, it is Jenkins alone who has kept the Welsh score within the bounds of respectability, just about.

But Wales have scored no tries, even though there has been a steady improvement in the performance of the pack, anyway in that of the front five. I would move Jenkins to full-back and bring in someone else at outside-half.

The preference in Wales seems to be for Arwel Thomas. Unhappily, I have not yet seen him play. Certainly the enthusiasm for him seems to derive from the romantic search for an authentic Welsh genius in that position. I hope it turns out to be justified. But, in the meantime, I wonder what is wrong with Adrian Davies or David Evans.

Certainly Davies has not been given a run in the Welsh side such as Rob Andrew enjoyed with England before fully establishing himself. And, if it is objected on Jenkins' behalf that no one should be expected to play full-back for his country and outside-half for his club, the answer is that Mike Catt has been doing this for England and Bath with some success.