Rugby Union: Howley perfection to move Welsh up the pecking order

THEY used to call him Stan, as in Stan Laurel, but not even the meanest of international back- row forwards finds much to laugh at in Rob Howley these days. The new nickname, Peter Perfect, has a much more appropriate ring to it: perfect as in impeccable, precise, polished, complete. As in too damned good to be true.

The dewy-eyed romantics who throng the terraces of the principality from Stradey in the west to Rodney Parade in the east still wax lyrical about a hidden outside-half factory tucked away deep in the valleys, and the emergence of Arwel Thomas as a stand-off in the grand tradition suggests the stardust machinery is back in full production. But what about the scrum-half factory? Gareth Edwards, Chico Hopkins, Brynmoor Williams, Terry Holmes, Robert Jones? It is a sporting lineage of noble breeding, a pedigree unmatched anywhere in the rugby world.

And now the success-starved boyos have Howley as their No 1 Dragon. It took the Welsh selectors five long years to see where the lean and muscular maestro from Bridgend was coming from, but once they installed the cerebral Kevin Bowring as national coach, the pieces began to fall into place.

Howley made his debut against England at Twickenham two years ago, scoring a fine try that went at least some way towards easing the frustration of a narrow defeat. No one will die of shock if he manages another at the same venue on Saturday.

On that late winter's day in 1996, Howley was the last Welshman out of the changing room door ("Embarrassingly enough, I lost a stud from my boot as I walked down the tunnel and my team-mates had to wait there until I'd fixed it"). This weekend, he will be the first to take the field, thanks to Bowring's decision to saddle his playmaker-in-chief with the added responsibility of captaincy. An unwanted burden? A poisoned chalice? Not according to the new skipper.

"The captaincy is not just about me, is it? Leadership has little to do with one bloke shouting the odds and everything to do with all 15 players taking responsibility for their actions. Rugby has moved too far and too quickly for one person to take all the decisions that matter during the course of 80 minutes. We're working towards playing decision-makers in every position and the more of them I have around me, the easier the job becomes.

"We're very big on self- analysis in this team and that's the way I like it. We simply have to be critical of ourselves, to look honestly at our contributions in every phase of every match. People say we're a developing team, but the way I look at things, it's about time we stopped developing and started to deliver. You can't keep excusing your defeats for ever and a day."

For all that, Howley has found a degree of solace in two recent reverses. The Welsh performance in Paris last season was, in his view, the best at the Parc des Princes since Graham Price's annus mirabilis in 1975. Likewise, the 40-point lesson meted out by Justin Marshall's All Blacks in November was not, he claims, quite the shafting it appeared.

"I'm the first to accept that the result against New Zealand was disappointing in the extreme, but when you look at the game in its entirety, it's clear that we were more closely matched than the final scoreline made out. I'm not saying we would have won had the bounce of the ball gone our way occasionally - of course they were the more complete side - but 37-21 to them wouldn't have been an unfair reflection.

"Wales can be a top-six rugby nation. I've no doubt about that. Indeed, it's vital that we establish ourselves among the elite and do it quickly, because we're hosting a World Cup in 18 months' time. The hosts need to be contenders, not also-rans.

"How do we go about it? We start by beating Scotland and Ireland every time we play them, home and away. And we also start by moving that big English pack around the field, imposing our style of play on them for a change and presenting our backs with the sort of quality ball that allows them to give it a lash.

"We all know the English have had their problems up front, but I'm still of the opinion that whatever danger they bring to a match is to be found in their pack.

"Only eight months ago I was on a Lions tour with the Martin Johnsons, the Lawrence Dallaglios, the Richard Hills. These are big-occasion players who have shown the ability to dominate at the very highest level. They're awesome, to be honest. Stop them and you stop England. Their forward performance will be the key this weekend."

Class half-backs are rarer than radium at the moment, hence the clamour and chequebook-wielding kerfuffle over Thomas Castaignede's match-winning performance for France against England in the first round of Five Nations matches 11 days ago. A similarly accomplished contribution from Howley on Saturday will add a fistful of noughts to his value, too, especially as a number of leading English clubs are already on his trail.

Howley has no urgent desire to leave Cardiff, however.

"I've got another two years to run at the Arms Park, I'm with the Welsh Rugby Union up to and including the World Cup and as I'm the sort of person who is happy to honour any contract with my thumb print on it, I'm giving all the speculation a wide berth," he said.

"If Cardiff either wanted or needed to sell me, I suppose I'd take an interest in what might happen. But I've got enough to think about just at the moment, thanks. It's England on Saturday, you know."

Everyone in Wales knows, actually, and they can barely wait. For the first time in a decade, the great sentimentalists of world rugby are basing their predictions of victory over the English on something more substantial than nostalgic whimsy. Rob Howley is one of the reasons why. The stage is set for Peter Perfect's perfect performance.