Since 2008, Wales have only had three head coaches: sandwiched between Warren Gatland’s two very different tenures, Wayne Pivac ruled the roost for almost three years, and more recently Matt Sherratt has held the reigns on a temporary basis. 

The upshot of this is that Steve Tandy – the first Welsh-born coach to hold the job since Gareth Jenkins in 2007 – has been given a three-year mandate to turn around the fortunes of the Wales national team. 

Beyond the current uncertainty over the future of the Welsh professional game, Tandy job expectation is clear: return Wales’ respectability on the international stage. 

While Gatland’s success as coach papered over the cracks, his second tenure put a microscope on them. Even in the months prior to his first match in charge, Tandy has already taken steps to close them. 

The former Scotland defence coach has been present at a number of Welsh regional matches, recently hot footing it over to the Cardiff Arms Park from the Brewery Field to catch two in one day. 

While the locations of Wales’ regions are geographically advantageous in that way, Tandy’s desire to include the regions in his plans has also extended to his coaching staff. 

Aside from forwards coach Danny Wilson – who comes with high regard from Harlequins – all of Tandy’s appointments to his team are from the Welsh game. Former Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt leads the attack, while Dragons’ Rhys Patchell and Dan Lydiate come in to assist in kicking and defence respectively, and Duncan Jones from Ospreys will take charge of the scrum. 

Despite the homegrown talent in his coaching staff, Tandy’s most headline-worthy selections both play across the border in the English Premiership. 

Louis Rees-Zammit returns at the earliest opportunity, having returned to the sport after an 18-month period pursuing his dream of playing in the National Football League (NFL). 

On Rees-Zammit, Tandy says: “I think we’re getting a special athlete and a special mindset to go and try something new. 

“Most people are probably not brave enough to experience something different and that was a big jump so that tells you a lot about him as a person and his mentality. 

“He says to me that he’s definitely faster and bigger since he’s come back, so that’s good for us to hear. We’ve got to build a game where we can get him in the game more often. Not only him, but we’ve got lots of other exciting players.” 

The other major story from the squad is the return of Rhys Carré. The Saracens prop has been the subject of much debate in recent years for Welsh fans, as his eye-catching carrying and loose game is believed to sometimes cover up some scrummaging issues. 

However, the fact that his relationship with Wales – and more specifically Gatland – had broke down to the extent that Carré left his hometown club of Cardiff for London before reaching the requisite 25 caps, seemed to end his international career. 

That the 27-year-old has been picked – with Tandy confirming that the Professional Rugby Board have approved him to play – despite him not reaching the 25-cap mark, is sign off the high regard with which the new coach holds him. 

“[He] gives me real excitement to have him available for us and to bring him into the autumn,” adds Tandy. 

“The way he’s playing for Saracens is outstanding. Saracens are playing really well at the minute and he’s having huge impacts. It’s really exciting to have him back. We’ve got some really good looseheads, but it adds to that depth which is great.” 

There are also returns to the international fold for experienced second rows Dafydd Jenkins and Adam Beard, who missed the two-Test summer series in Japan due to having elective surgery and a break, respectively. 

That Tandy has picked four other locks – Rhys Davies, Freddie Thomas, Ben Carter, and debutant James Fender –speaks to the fact that Jenkins, Thomas, and Beard will be unavailable for the final match of the month against South Africa. 

In total, Tandy will be without 12 of his 39-man group for that contest with the double World Champions, with the large group reflecting this, as well as his desire to take a look at as many options as possible. 

Along with Fender, there are four more potential debutants in the squad: Dragons hooker Brodie Coghlan, Cardiff loosehead Danny Southworth, Ospreys back row Morgan Morse, and Bath centre Louie Hennessey. 

Coghlan is a beneficiary of injuries to previous squad stalwarts, Ryan Elias and Elliot Dee, and has been impressive in recent seasons, despite Dragons’ struggles as a team. 

Southworth’s inclusion is a victory for the Wales Exiles program, with the 25-year-old moving over to Cardiff last season and impressing almost immediately. He qualifies for Wales via his grandmother and joins Carré, Nicky Smith, and Gareth Thomas as Tandy’s loosehead options. 

The final two debuts are Wales U20s stars. Morse and Hennessey will be well known to followers of the junior international set-up, having been the outstanding forward and back for Wales for the past couple of years. 

The fact that captain Jac Morgan is the only true openside in the squad may point to Tandy’s view of how best to use Morse’s unique skillset, with his playmaking and physical abilities clear to see in the early weeks of the URC season. 

Hennessey is more of an unproven player at senior level, a part of an expensively assembled Bath squad, but his ranging running and off-loading affinity could prove popular at the Principality. 

With matches against Argentina and Japan kicking off the four-match month, Tandy needs at least one, if not two, positive results before the hard graft of New Zealand and South Africa come to Cardiff. 

With this new-look squad, and coaching group, he has given himself every chance of hitting the ground running as Wales head coach. 

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