As Jonathan Davies entered what is called the mixed zone, a gauntlet lined with reporters who players have to walk through to get from their dressing room to the after-match buffet, following Wales’s semi-final defeat to South Africa, he was asked how he was feeling.
The response was a disbelieving stare followed by “How do you think?” Davies carried on walking as fast as his left leg, which had been in a supporting cast during the match, would allow him. The question had been asked with his fitness in mind, after he had missed the quarter-final victory over France having been injured against Fiji, but the hurt was narrowly missing out on a place in the final for the second time in three tournaments and it was at its most raw. Four years of toil and pain had ended in heartbreak.
Written by Paul Rees in Tokyo
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/oct/28/time-wales-rebuild-failing-regional-system-wayne-pivac-gatland-rugby-world-cup under the title “Time for Wales to rebuild despite failings of the regional system | Paul Rees”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
