Reddan could provide sting in tail for Welsh wizards
The former League stalwart’s standing has risen noticeably since becoming a valued member of the Wales coaching ticket, renewing on a part-time basis an old Wasps partnership with Gatland.
Gatland and Edwards brought unprecedented success to Wasps between 2002 and 2005, while both also kept a close eye on Irish players, first signing Johnny O’Connor, then Jeremy Staunton, before activating the process of bringing Reddan to Adams Park.
Reddan says he owes much of his development as a scrum-half to Edwards who plucked the Limerick man from relative anonymity in Munster, where the current Ireland number nine was one in a long line of scrum-halves queuing behind Peter Stringer.
“I had dealings with Warren in the year running up to his departure in the summer of 2005,” recounts Reddan, “chats about whether I was going there or not. Matt Dawson went there in 2004 and it seemed they didn’t want me anymore. Before Warren left, he said to Shaun to keep an eye out. Shaun had a look at a few games and said, ‘you should come to Wasps, I could work on a few things with you and help you out’. That was a nice thing to hear as a player because I felt I was struggling at the time. I felt I was missing something. I couldn’t work out why I wasn’t playing the way I’d like to play. It was nice someone spotted something I could be better at.”
Reddan stresses Edwards is more than just a defence guru; rather an adaptable rugby man and one whom the English RFU were errant in not signing. Whatever about Edwards’ capacity to help improve individual players, he is the man who has put the words ‘impenetrable’ and ‘tough’ back into the Wales defensive system. The Grand Slam chasers have conceded just two tries in the Championship thanks to his defensive systems.
“Shaun has changed the way they defend,” states Reddan. “You have to say it’s going pretty well (in the way they defend). I’ve said it before: he’s a top coach, he was great coup for Wales and England were probably a bit silly to let him go. He has already left a mark. I think if somebody knew nothing about rugby they could watch a game before he was there and watch a game after, then they’d note the difference in how they defend.
“Their defensive line is ‘up and in’ with good line speed — he has brought a lot in that regard, and he has brought a general aggressiveness to their game. Hopefully, we can match that. I think Ireland have always had that in the past anyway.”
The rugby renaissance in the valleys has been largely credited to Gatland who has brought a steely hardiness to the forwards. The team appear well drilled, focused and disciplined and, where once player-power precipitated the downfall of previous coaching regimes, this crop dare not speak out against Gatland and Edwards.
Edwards has the reputation of being a hard taskmaster and the Welsh players will need to leave their sensitivities at the dressing room door, says Reddan.
“The thing with Shaun is no matter how hard he’s been on you, once you realise he’s trying to make you a better player then that’s the key with working with him. If you’re the kind of guy who doesn’t react well to criticism, then you won’t react well to Shaun.
“Deep down, he does try to make every player he works with better and I think that’s his little secret really.”
He adds: “He has helped me a lot. He brings a lot to the game as coach. I’m not going to sit here all week and talk about how good Shaun Edwards is, because I think we’ve a great set up here, a great bunch of players and I think it’s key for us to go out and focus on our game and not get too caught up in what Wales are doing. We need to go out and produce a good performance and get a win for Ireland.”
Reddan will win only his ninth cap on Saturday and will certainly have been sought out by management to impart some of Edwards’ trade secrets. Conversely, it’s also likely Edwards will be drilling the Welsh on how to negate Reddan’s game. He will also come face to face with Mike Phillips, a different player to Dwayne Peel who is more in the Reddan mould.
“I don’t think it should make any difference who plays at scrum-half. Mike Phillips’s a good player. He’s a scrum half who distributes the ball and kicks well, and if the break is there he’ll take it just like any other player on the pitch. If the gap is on, you take it.
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