Jones holds the key to No 10 as Wales regroup

The eternal debate over the treasured Red Dragon stand-off position is more complex than at any time since the war. Chris Hewett looks at the candidates

It has been going on since pre-Mabinogion times, and there are folk down Llanelli way who will tell you that Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last native Prince of Wales, was wearing a No 10 shirt under his chainmail when he lost his life at Builth in 1282. Literary scholars still ponder the fact that Dylan Thomas – a poet of nature, sex and death – omitted to write on the one eternal theme that really mattered: who should play outside-half at the Arms Park on Saturday afternoon? Maybe he considered the subject beyond his powers of vocabulary.

There are certainly those who consider the subject to be beyond Graham Henry, whose handling of the Neil Jenkins-Arwel Thomas issue last season was less than assured. Henry professes astonishment that a single position should generate so much public heat – "Don't you think all this is just a little obsessive?" he asked at one point during the 2000 autumn Test series – but then, he comes from New Zealand, where the hero-worshippers prefer tree-sized wings and back-row assassins to dapper little twinkled-toed stand-offs.

Now that the 54-year-old Henry is committed to leading his adoptive country into the 2003 World Cup – the one job that might have tempted him to buy himself out of his contract, that of All Black coach, has been given to the 37-year-old John Mitchell – he might like to take the most romantically-charged rugby shirt in Christendom as seriously as the average Welshman, especially as the situation is more confused than at any point in the post-war era. Stephen Jones, a dyed-in-the-wool Scarlet from Stradey Park, wears 10 against the Irish at the Millennium Stadium this afternoon, but the coach regards him as a "world-class inside centre" playing half-in, half-out of position. Who should replace Jones in the coming months? What if the incumbent develops into a state-of-the-art 10, as some in the Welsh hierarchy expect? If Jones' form demands that he stays at 10, who will play at 12?

Historically, the outside-half debate has been of the either-or variety, jazzed up with a splash of east-west rivalry. Back in the 1950s, Cliff Morgan of Cardiff and Carwyn James of Llanelli were the protagonists. A decade down the road, David Watkins of Newport and Barry John of – yes, you guessed it – Llanelli were in direct competition. When John moved to Cardiff, he found himself in the mix with a certain Phil Bennett, who had succeeded the "King" at Stradey. In the 1980s, the argument raged between another Cardiff 10, Gareth Davies, and Malcolm Dacey of Swansea.

Then came the Jenkins-Thomas imbroglio. Henry, always suspicious of little Arwel's defensive frailties, was forced to backtrack when his impish bête noire produced a series of match-winning performances for Swansea at the beginning of last season. Thomas duly started the Tests against Samoa and the United States, performing creditably in both. But he was dropped for the big one with South Africa; Cardiff's Jenkins was recalled, as most hardened Henry-watchers had predicted. Thomas was brought off the bench for the final quarter of a knife-edge contest, and cracked under pressure. The "Arwelites" detected more than a hint of selectorial cynicism. "Had Arwel won the game for Wales, Henry would have looked the great tactician," they said. "When he failed, it was a case of 'What did I tell you?' By bringing him on when he did, Henry put himself in a no-lose situation."

But Henry could easily lose this time, though; three years into his five-year contract and only a few months away from the start of his World Cup build-up, the pivotal position in the Welsh team is still a mystery to him. Given that Jenkins is unlikely to resume a long international career that finally imploded during the Lions tour of Australia, and that Thomas is past caring, there are three contenders: Jones, who is tried and tested but, in the coach's view, ideally suited to another position; Gavin Henson, the Swansea wunderkind, who has been tried but not tested; and Iestyn Harris, the latest refugee from beleaguered rugby league, who has only just arrived at Cardiff and has not been tried at all.

"Stephen is a very, very good player," Henry said of Jones this week. "He is an excellent communicator with the ability to organise those around him – a highly impressive person all round, in my view, and one who will play for Wales for a long time. But potentially, his best position is inside centre. He could be a world-beater there. Then again, he would need a world-class outside-half alongside him, and we haven't got one of those at the moment.

"Gavin Henson? The jury is still out, isn't it? He has the ability, certainly, but there has to be more to an international outside-half than talent. I guess we're seeing some 'second season syndrome' at work here. He played particularly well last year and received rave reviews by the dozen, but people are aware of him now and he needs to consolidate. As for Iestyn... well, one of the fascinations of his coming to union is the positional issue. Where will he play? Full-back? Centre? Outside-half? The guy has only just pitched up, so it's a little early to fix him in a role. Number 10 is a possibility, though, because he has all the skills."

All things considered, Jones is a Godsend to a coach who does not know quite what to do for the best. "He reminds me of a young Tim Horan," said Henry, referring to the great Wallaby centre – a double World Cup-winner who was happy to play the odd game at stand-off when the situation demanded. That view was supported by Alun Carter, the former international flanker who now provides statistical analysis for the Red Dragon hierarchy. "The stats are pretty convincing," he said. "Stephen is a strong performer at Test level.

"Take his tackling. He has been known to make 16 or 17 tackles in an international match, which is very high indeed for an outside-half. Right up there with Jonny Wilkinson, in fact – and in my opinion, Stephen may be better than Wilkinson, because his technique is more sound. Also, he is at his most effective in tight games, which is a real bonus. Against Romania last month, he made two tackles; but then, he hardly needed to make more than that, because we scored 80 points. In a close, hard contest, his stats go up very sharply – the sign of a natural Test player."

Fortunately for Henry, the 23-year-old from Carmarthen sees the 10 and 12 positions as interchangeable and is happy to flit from one to the other. "Just so long as they don't pick me at full-back," he laughed as the Red Dragonhood gathered for this weekend's Six Nations business – a reference to his less than comfortable experience against England last February, when Matthew Dawson, a fine scrum-half but no Linford Christie, circumnavigated him from distance on the way to a thoroughly embarrassing try.

Actually, the full-back position is also up for grabs. Is Kevin Morgan sufficiently dependable? Will Rhys Williams ever fulfil his vast potential? Will Mr I Harris of 13-a-side land surface in the No 15 shirt? This much is certain. A half-decent performance from Jones today will ensure that his brief career as the last line of defence remains just that.