Abject failure is becoming the norm – where does Welsh rugby go from here?

It’s been quite challenging to predict when Welsh rugby will actually reach its lowest level recently.

Another depth is plumbed every time we believe a new low has been reached in recent years.

Wales’ most recent low is Saturday’s 73-0 home humiliation against world champions South Africa, which ended their previous best season there.

One Welsh rugby expert said, “it can’t get worse than this, can it?” while watching England play their victory song at the Principality Stadium in March. They had already lost to their hosts 68-14.

It turns out to be.

On a Cardiff autumnal Saturday night after the embarrassing England embarrassment, the Springboks squad belted out their celebration song.

Following the Springboks’ 96-13 hammering in Pretoria in 1998, this 11-try demolition was the second worst defeat in Welsh rugby history.

It seems pointless to debate whether Welsh rugby was more degraded by the loss to England or South Africa.

The same holds true for the national men’s side’s year of 2024 or 2025. The norm is abject failure.

Since the World Cup quarter-final defeat by Argentina in Marseille in October 2023, Welsh rugby has sunk significantly.

In the two years that followed, Wales have lost 20 out of 22 matches.

Wales lost all 11 Test matches in 2024, while Wales lost all 11 games this year, with the only exception of Japan, where they lost nine.

Even though 2025 has experienced some sort of success, it is undoubtedly worse than 2024.

Wales have lost at home twice in a row, lost 50 points in four games to England, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, and has three head coaches, Matt Sherratt and Steve Tandy.

Wales lost to France in Paris on their final day of the Six Nations in a 43-0 start to the year in January.

They claim that being stronger only results in greater strength when it is said that “what doesn’t kill you”

Terry Cobner, president of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), expressed those views in his South Africa programme notes.

Welsh rugby is on life support now that the most recent capitulation and its 11th home Test defeat in 12 games have been capitulated.

Less than 24 hours after Welsh rugby’s most recent humiliation, the WRU annual general meeting (AGM) will take place on Sunday. It might turn out to be lively.

The WRU’s recent reshuffle against the Springboks may prove necessary.

Former England captain Gwyn Jones remarked that Welsh rugby leaders should initiate immediate significant change rather than waste a crisis.

Since then, the WRU has suggested reducing Wales’ professional sides from four to three, but no concrete plans have been made regarding how.

The WRU hopes a consensus decision can be reached before the end of the year as negotiations with Ospreys, Scarlets, Cardiff, and Dragons continue in December.

The process will go through a tender if it isn’t finished, which could take six months.

In the spring, Wales will be attempting to avoid a third straight defeat in the Six Nations, so it might still be going on.

The process is being led by WRU’s rugby director, head of elite performance Dave Reddin, chair Richard Collier-Keywood, and chief executive Abi Tierney, who has only recently returned from cancer treatment.

With doubts over their futures, the faith in this trio’s capacity to initiate and implement change is being scrutinized.

Reddin was captured smiling as Wales lost to South Africa by 59-0.

Tandy’s appointment was Reddin’s first major responsibility, and it was a baptism of fire in the new head coach’s inaugural campaign.

The 45-year-old former Ospreys boss has lost to Argentina, New Zealand, and South Africa, as well as a pointless victory over Japan thanks to a late Jarrod Evans penalty.

Tandy, a former Scotland and British and Irish Lions defense coach, will be particularly concerned with his special area, despite there being some indications of attacking intent.

In their four November matches, where they were consistently out-muscled and overpowered, they have conceded 27 tries and 200 points.

In time for the Six Nations, Tandy will require the appointment of a renowned defense coach.

Dewi Lake, the skipper of Wales, stated that his country must not go back to that position after the South African defeat.

What’s worrying about how much harm young, unproven Welsh players are doing?

They worry about their own futures as well as what they are exposed to on the global stage.

James Hook, the ex-Washington fly-half, says the players shouldn’t be subjected to harsh criticism.

Hook told BBC Radio Wales, “It’s not the time to pick out individuals or flaws in how we attacked or defended.”

“Everyone is aware of the current state of Welsh rugby, both on and off the field, because there is a lot of uncertainty, which affects these players.

Given that this fixture attracted the lowest crowd of just over 50 000 for a match between these two countries in Cardiff since 1999, questions have been raised as to why the WRU decided to put this together.

Due to the fact that the match was outside World Rugby’s authorized Test window, Wales had to field a weakened side with only 13 of their England and France-based players.

The absurdity of the situation is best captured by the likes of Tomos Williams, Dafydd Jenkins, and Louis Rees-Zammit excelling in their clubs on the same weekend as their Wales team-mates were being humbled in Cardiff.

South Africa also lost players through club duty, but they still managed to recruit a sizable pool of talent, with their bench alone having won more Test caps than Wales’ entire matchday squad.

The World Cup match was the conclusion of a somewhat difficult autumn campaign, Hook said.

It’s difficult to blame any of those Welsh players for what happened, to be honest.

The brutal truth is that the majority of the players in Wales are currently being exposed and not up to international standards. More than anyone else, they experience the pain of terrible defeats.