Hard times for Wales' standard-bearers

The future looks good for Swansea, but the present is appalling. Hugh Godwin finds why the champions are now chumps

Strange days at Swansea. A spanking new ground paid for and built by the local council to move into the season after next, and the arrival of a new and respected coach before this campaign is out, suggest that the future for the Whites is bright. If only the team were playing up to the prospects.

Beset by injuries and fickle form, Swansea lie a precarious fifth in the Welsh/Scottish League, on the cusp of missing out on the Heineken Cup next year. They have failed to make it past the pool stage this season after a six-match nightmare of two grim wins and not a single try scored until the second half of the final game against Edinburgh on Friday night.

The club with the best playing surface in Wales have been getting used to others taking advantage of it. No wonder that the club's former player, chairman and now president, Mike James, calls this a "débâcle" of a season.

A year ago, a similar tale of woe faced the then coaches, John Plumtree and Clive Griffiths. Swansea responded with a run of only one defeat in 17 league matches to sweep back into Europe and to win the Welsh/Scottish League by some six points and 26 tries ahead of Cardiff. They were inspired by four men who were to tour with the Lions – Colin Charvis, Darren Morris, Mark Taylor and Scott Gibbs.

Problems set in when the Lions quartet returned either crocked or in need of a rest. Taylor has yet to resume after a knee injury, and the other three began the season late. Griffiths left to become Wales's defensive coach, and was followed in late November by Plumtree. Officially, the New Zealander departed by mutual consent, six months before the end of his contract. Unofficially, it seemed more than coincidence that he went within a few days of a report into the club's playing and commercial structure by Dick Best, the former England coach and newly-styled "rugby consultant".

Swansea's move in September 2003 into the planned 20,000-seat stadium at Morfa – to be shared with the city's football team – had concentrated the minds of the club's board, chaired by Rob Davies, James's business partner and, with him, one of the principal investors among several hundred shareholders.

Best was commissioned to spend a month at St Helens, Swansea's home for more than a century, interviewing everyone from the tea lady to the coaching staff, including all the players. All those with an axe to grind were encouraged to do so. "The club want to have the proper structures in place when they get to the new stadium," said Best. "I drew on the experience I had at London Irish, of moving to the Madejski Stadium. The changes I recommended are mostly long-term."

Best's company, Inside Rugby Ltd, is represented in Wales by Robert Jones, the former Swansea and Wales scrum-half. In his recent book, Raising the Dragon, Jones recounts how Swansea belatedly marked his 50th cap after being stung by a critical newspaper article. It is but one example of an apparent slowness to react to professionalism. Not helped by the ongoing debate over the Welsh game at large, Swansea are engaged in much the same process as other leading sides in England and Wales. They have some catching up to do.

James, a successful property developer, recalls the "house of lords" who ran the club by committee and boozed it up with the best of them, and he readily admits that change is overdue. "Dick's report was eminently good common sense," James said. "It hasn't told us anything we didn't already know, but that is the essence of a good management report. What we're now trying to do is separate the directors from the management of the club."

A Friday-night match against Pontypridd before Christmas drew a crowd of under a thousand. "We've lost our support, and quite rightly too," said James. In turn, Morris last week lost his Wales squad place through a reported lack of fitness, which if true would be an indictment of both player and club; the long-term injury lay-off of hooker Garin Jenkins has also been particularly damaging.

Swansea cannot afford to miss out on one of Wales's five places in the Heineken Cup (it may be only four if Glasgow win at Montferrand today). Plumtree's replacement, the former Queensland coach John Connolly, is not due until June while he sees out his contract at Stade Français. James said: "Dick's advice was that we needed somebody of an international reputation, and John fills that role." Yet even this positive step may yield a troublesome fallout, throwing into question as it does the roles of Paul Moriarty and Tony Clement.

Taylor, who hopes to return at the end of next month, blames the poor run on a combination of factors. "Clive Griffiths's going was a big blow. We relied on him a lot for organisation, defensive work and the backs as well. We beat Llanelli on Boxing Day, and it was the real Swansea, but there is a lack of confidence at the moment."

At least Scott Gibbs, Taylor's long-time midfield partner, has remained a guiding light. "The players' player of the season usually gets a Rolex watch," said Taylor. "Scott's already getting measured up for it." And the clock is ticking on Swansea's new dawn.