Neath prove urgent need for change in Wales

Leicester 36 Neath 11

For at least the first half anyway it was looking as if there was not too much wrong with club rugby in Wales as Neath nagged and scragged with the best of English clubs in a bruising but entertaining final Pool One match. They proved a handful at the set piece and chivvied and chased out wide, and right to the end, provided they could get their hands on their opponents, they tackled themselves into the Welford Road pitch.

It left many people among the sell-out crowd – the first for a European pool match for Leicester – wondering what all the fuss was about in Wales. Then suddenly Wales' All Blacks imploded, Leicester exploded and the result was a runaway victory for the Tigers and the guarantee of a home draw, against their East Midlands rivals Munster, in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup.

Afterwards Neath's captain, Gareth Llewellyn, admitted: "The thing is club competition in Wales is not the same intensity as it is in England. Against certain clubs in Wales we play in front of 1,500 people, today there were more than 16,000. I know that when I was playing for Harlequins a lot of the Welsh press used to ask me what the standard was like between England and Wales. Like all English-based Welsh players I used to say that there was not that much difference. But there was. We all thought that the Zurich Premiership was far tougher, but we didn't want to say that because it would have been derogatory to the Welsh."

So although he is a member of a club that has been at the heart and soul of the club game in Wales, Llewellyn accepts something has to be done before Wales gets left behind at all levels. "Some change in the game in Wales is inevitable. I am confident we are not going to be in clubs next year. I am in favour of four provinces. The best thing is to let Steve Hansen, the Wales coach, choose his 120 players, then divide them into groups of 30, and say, 'Right, you 30 are playing for this province, you 30 play for that province and so on'."

The way Leicester are playing they could pull off a European Cup treble. They lost the services of the scrum-half Harry Ellis in the 23rd minute but, with his first touch of the ball, his replacement Jamie Hamilton mesmerisied the bewildered Neath defence before dancing through them for a telling try.

And for the rest of the match Hamilton, a much under-rated all-rounder in the No 9 shirt, tormented the opposition. "I am not quite as fast as I used to be," said the modest Hamilton later, "but I still have a bit of pace. I am 32 but I am not dead and buried yet." He has a year left to run on his Leicester contract, but he long ago consigned any hopes of international recognition to a dark corner.

While Clive Woodward, the watching England head coach, would have enjoyed Hamilton's cameo, the player himself is stoical. "I am not going to give up hope, if it comes, it comes, but I have had a fantastic career at Leicester and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I am happy with that." And Tigers are happy with Hamilton.

Leicester: Tries Murphy, Hamilton, Kronfeld, Kay; Conversions Stimpson 2; Penalties Stimpson 4. Neath: Try S Williams; Penalties Connor; DG Connor.

Leicester: T Stimpson; G Murphy, L Lloyd, R Kafer, S Booth; S Vesty, H Ellis (J Hamilton, 23); D Jelley, D West, F Tournaire, M Johnson (capt), B Kay, W Johnson (J Kronfeld, 69), A Balding (L Moody, 69), N Back (L Deacon, 80+1).

Neath: A Durston; G Morris, J Storey, D Tiueti, S Williams; S Connor, P Horgan; D Jones (A Millward, 78), B Williams, A Jones (P James, 78), A Newman, G Llewellyn (capt), B Sinkinson, R Phillips (S Martin, 79), S Tandy (A Mocelutu, 42).

Referee: A Rolland (Ire).