International / Ralph Ellis / 22 October 2008 / Leave a comment

Ralph Ellis looks at to what extent the latest problems in Welsh rugby threaten to jeopardise the national team's chances in the upcoming Autumn Tests and defence of their Six Nations crown.

They used to say that if Wales wanted to find another scrum half they only had to go to the nearest mine shaft and whistle. That was a long time ago. Now there are no more mines and not too many scrum halves to be found either.

So imagine the frustration felt by Warren Gatland today as he tries to work out how he's going to raise a decent team for the Autumn series of Test matches which starts against South Africa in Cardiff on November 8. On the day that the New Zealander is expecting to be named among the coaching staff for next summer's British Lions tour to South Africa, he's facing significant problems with the job he's already got.

Wales' four regional teams have blocked the release of the 29 home-based players for the autumn series, which can't have been fun for Gatland to hear as he was naming his squad and then discovering most of them wouldn't be released to play.

It's all to do with a row over money. Now there's a surprise! The regions say they are still owed £500,000 in payments from last year's World Cup, while the Welsh Rugby Union say they don't owe a penny. In the middle is Gatland who is admitting he could be ready to quit as a result.

"I have already questioned my position," he's told this morning's papers. "I'll admit I am pretty despondent over the whole thing. We are going through a negative period and people say: 'That's Welsh rugby for you', but it isn't good enough."

Too right, it isn't. And you have to ask yourself why, after a couple of decades when Welsh sport has been all but a laughing stock, the people in power are taking them back to that just when they might have been on the upturn.

Gatland, after all, won the Six Nations Grand Slam for Wales last year in his first season in charge and might have thought he'd created enough of a feel good factor to get some support and help for his aims.

You have to laugh at the pompous suits in charge of these things. Somebody called David Moffett, appointed as 'interim' spokesman for the four Welsh regions, grumbles: "The WRU were supposed to have given us a schedule outlining when international players would be required and they never did that." Now I may be wrong, and I'm guessing, but I suspect that the international players will be required around the dates of the international fixtures which were agreed two years ago!

All of this has implications for this year's Six Nations. Wales as holders are currently [3.85] to win the tournament again in a closely matched market which has England at [3.4] and France on [3.65]. If Gatland does walk out - or the regions dig their heels in even deeper over releasing players - it will seriously damage the chances of them retaining the title.

As for Gatland himself, having established beyond doubt his coaching credentials he'll bring plenty to the table when the Lions party sets off to South Africa next May. It might just be worth trying to lay the Springboks for the series at around [1.5].

Five things you might not know about Warren Gatland

1.Born in Hamilton, New Zeland in 1963, he was inspired by the motto of Hamilton Boys High School: 'A wise man carves his own fortune'

2.He showed his coaching credentials quickly. The first time he was picked for the All Blacks in 1988 he introduced a game based on Gaelic football into their training sessions

3.Despite making a record 140 appearances as hooker for Waikato, his 17 appearances for the All Blacks never included a Test match

4.London Wasps were bottom of the Premiership when he joined them as coach in 2002. They avoided relegation then won three successive titles and the 2004 Heineken Cup

5.Wales' 29-12 win over France gave them their tenth Grand Slam - 100 years to the day after they won their first