KEY POINTS:
It is already etched deep in the annals of union that no coach, not even Brian Ashton, will ever understand the implications of "player power" quite as ruefully as Mike Ruddock. When told on Wednesday about Phil Davies' cloak-and-dagger departure from Llanelli Scarlets, and all those rumours of
dissension in the Stradey Park dressing room, he rolled his eyes, shook his head and said a few things that shall remain off the record.
At that moment it would have been mighty hard not to detect that he does not miss Wales one jot. Later during the interview Ruddock even confessed as much. But then, as he conducted his own personal tour of Worcester Rugby Club, it was harder still not to detect why the Grand Slam winner had found it so easy to leave his homeland.
"This place has so much going for it," he said. "Especially now."
"Now" is the pertinent word when it comes to the Warriors and Ruddock, because only "now" does it truly appear to have worked out between the pair. Survival in the Premiership is assured and that threat of relegation to National League One has blessedly been replaced by the chance of promotion to the Heineken Cup.
Should the Warriors defeat Bath in the European Challenge Cup final this month they will, via the back door, enter a world that has long figured high on the wish list of their ever-ambitious owner, Cecil Duckworth. Where they would be then and where they had been in January would be a journey rapid enough to have even a time traveller double-checking the calendar.
Ruddock is prepared to admit to the improbability of it all, particularly as a team meeting is still so fresh in his mind where he had to rise to his feet and ask for his beliefs to be backed. For a man who allegedly lost his job with Wales because of the mutiny of a few senior players - it remains "allegedly" as Ruddock has still to give his version of events - that showed a remarkable degree of character, if but a little desperation.
"We had just been thumped by the Ospreys at home, really thumped, and it plainly wasn't going well," he remembered. "So we got the team together and asked whether they wanted to carry on playing like we were trying to play or to go back to playing conservatively.
"To a man they all said they wanted to persevere with the new style of play. That was a big moment."
For Worcester and Ruddock both. While it was surely vital for the club to move away from the stick-it-up-your-jumper philosophy which enabled the club to escape the drop the season previously, but promised very little movement upwards in any season following, it was clearly just as vital for the coach to stay loyal to his expansive game plan. Ruddock's first few months in the Premiership were an eye-opener and the direction of that focus was within.
"There were times when I had to look at myself and ask the question, 'Am I going to get this right?"' he said. "It's the interaction between forwards and backs that we believe is the way ahead. Traditionally, the Premiership was 'Forwards play as forwards, backs plays as backs'. It's been a very traditional approach to the game. Quick ball is essential in the game we're after and in this league quick ball is very difficult to get. To be honest, I was surprised that this is the case. Sides in England are very good at slowing the ball down. That's what made Europe so important. We got the time we needed to play in places like Gran Palma and Bucharest. And if we can now beat Bath, how much more enticing would that make next season?"
With the arrival of the planet's best fullback, Chris Latham, it should already have been enticing enough as he joins those other Southern Hemisphere giants - Greg Rawlinson,Sam Tuitupou and Rico Gear.
Apparently, the Australian is itching to display his unique array of talents at the Sixways and is emailing on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis on matters such as accommodation. What did not bother him too greatly were the results.
"When we signed contracts with Chris he didn't ask for a get-out clause should we get relegated - he was coming whatever," revealed Ruddock. "That also helped to relieve the pressure a bit."
Yet it was the backing of Duckworth that naturally counted most. "Yeah, in the middle of what I shall call 'the sticky times' Cecil made a point of coming in to tell me that I was here for the long haul," he said. "That was great. When you hear those things from those who hire and fire it doesn't half make sleeping easier."
If only he had heard it three years ago in Wales when those then in nominal charge at the Welsh Rugby Union sought to protect their own backs. Ruddock is happy to see Warren Gatland, the latest Grand Slam redeemer, enjoying the support from the top that he lacked.
- INDEPENDENT