WALES

Ruddock-gate set to swing open again

Sunday 06th July 2008

Mike Ruddock: Will the truth soon be known?

Welsh rugby may once again be searching its soul with the impending publication of the memoirs of long-time Welsh backroom staff member Alun Carter in November.

Carter was a statistician and video analyst for the Welsh team between 1997 and 2007, and has promised to be wholly truthful about many incidents to have affected Welsh rugby in those ten years.

The most pressing affair for the public will be the loss of Mike Ruddock in 2006, one year after he led Wales to the Grand Slam. Ruddock left the Head Coach position under a cloud, with nobody sure if he jumped or was pushed.

Carter will also iterate his thoughts on why the reigns of Steve Hansen and Gareth Jenkins were such failures, and why Graham Henry and Sir Clive Woodward were such bitter rivals.

Carter is currently team manager with Ruddock at Worcester in the Guinness Premiership, and while Ruddock has never publicly explained what went on when he lost the Wales job, Carter's memoirs are unlikely to be without Ruddock's backing and/or input.

Carter left his post shortly before the disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign after a bust-up with Jenkins, saying that standards within the Wales set-up had fallen too far.