Wales' next coach has to do two things

It seems an obvious point but it's one worth making

Gethin Jenkins has said two things this season that were unequivocally true.

The first was noticing that my bag was the relatively cheap one you can get from Costco. It was.

The second was that the Wales head coach should be based permanently in the country and needs to formulate a long-term plan with the four professional sides. It should go without saying and yet it absolutely did.

Last Thursday’s Cardiff press conference saw Jenkins face questions on all manner of things, from their upcoming clash with Leinster to the work of Blue and Blacks coach Matt Sherratt as Wales interim.

However, it was when questions turned to Jenkins’ thoughts on Warren Gatland and his departure that things got interesting.

"The Welsh coach has to be in the country putting the hours in and going around the regions and actually putting together a plan," said Jenkins.

"The notion the group of players was not good enough is probably not something I agree with," said Jenkins.

"They're young but there's a lot of experience in there as well and it's how can you get the best out of them.

"I think far too often it was said publicly players had made bad decisions. As a coach sometimes you've got to take responsibility as well and own that.

"You can see even the difference in just two weeks of training what a bit of coaching has done to these players."

One high-profile figure in Welsh rugby admitted they were surprised the comments of the former Wales prop, who is now coaching Cardiff, didn’t make more of a splash.

Certainly, in a fallow week, it felt like the sort of soundbite that could have made more waves that it did.

Perhaps it was a case of someone saying publicly what many have felt for a long time.