Look no further than Chris Robshaw to see how being relieved of the captaincy can be such a relief it turns a fine player into an even better one. If Sam Warburton surrenders the job and is the beneficiary, then so are Wales.
Warburton was hardly past his rugby adolescence when Warren Gatland gave him the responsibility at 22. Since then he has borne everyone else’s burden, and not just his own, in 49 of his 69 Tests. The remarkable thing was how well his own form held up. So hats off to Warburton, who unlike his probable successor Alun Wyn Jones, does not have the benefit of performing in a side challenging strongly in the Pro12. When Warburton plays well for Wales it is despite, not because of, what is happening at Cardiff Blues.
Ospreys are a different matter, as Jones shows weekly. With Gethin Jenkins and Dan Lydiate injured, other alternatives are non-existent.
But captaincy is minor among Rob Howley’s troubles as he seeks a squad, to be named on Tuesday, to replicate his 2013 triumph the last time he filled in as head coach while Gatland was preparing for a British & Irish Lions tour.
Howley is ahead of where he was four years ago, when there were four straight autumn defeats and Wales were ranked so low they were shoved into the 2015 World Cup pool of death.
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If, as Steve Hansen used to insist when he was Wales coach, performance rather than results was the yardstick, there would be cause to worry. Howley’s 2013 squad went from their awful autumn into a Six Nations they won by dismantling England after losing first up at home to Ireland. England and Ireland are the 2017 favourites but must come to Cardiff again. That in itself offers hope, but only if Howley’s plan — an adoption of what we heard from Gatland before him — for expansive rugby comes to fruition. And that means the players, not the coach, deciding when and where to revert to what they have known better.
During November there was no sign they had the capacity to think enough for themselves without having to be told. You cannot blame only the captain for that, and anyway Warburton played in only two of the four games.
Wales are lucky, if that is the word, to have fewer injuries than has often been the case. No Jenkins, Lydiate or Bradley Davies. But Rhys Webb and Taulupe Faletau, cursed since joining Bath, should be in the reckoning – Faletau probably the most important player of all.
For expansive rugby to be efficacious, Howley must choose men capable of playing that way, in the midfield particularly as long as Jones’ forwards do their jobs. Dare he prefer Sam Davies to Dan Biggar? Could he think beyond the obvious by including Ashley Beck at centre?
These are all Ospreys, historically and currently Wales’ best sub-international team. More awkward for Howley is what to do about his offshore candidates. Thomas Young has been sensational for Wasps but Howley already has Justin Tipuric and Warburton.
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The English clubs’ collective policy is to deny Howley access to his players until the week before the first Test of any series, in accordance with World Rugby rules. As a newcomer, Young would surely need more than that to bring himself up to speed.
That said, please can we be spared the guff about Wales, those who will have had their full fortnight, starting slowly but improving as time goes by? It may be true but it is a dismal excuse and certainly would be if Wales falter when their Six Nations kicks off in Italy in three weeks.