LONG READ Can likely lads deliver long overdue positivity in Wales?

It sometimes seems even Wilkins Micawber would have had his famed optimism challenged by Welsh rugby. For David Copperfield’s oft-impoverished landlord – mantra: ‘something will turn up’ – tomorrow would always be a brighter day, but for the oval-ball game in Wales better times remain stubbornly off the agenda.

More gruel for all?

That always seems the way.

Spare a thought, then, for those who tootle along to Principality Stadium hospitality boxes in the coming year, who are unlikely to have their visits embellished by the scent of newly snipped roses, carnations, daffodils and such like, with the Welsh Rugby Union’s chief executive Abi Tierney having reported the governing body had in the past been spending £50,000 a year on fresh flowers for the exclusive areas.

“That’s not making the national team perform any better,” said Tierney. “It’s not growing participation at a community level.” Indeed it isn’t. In tough times, flower power goes only so far – henceforth not as far as a WRU hospitality box.

More concerningly, last week brought turbulence from the Arms Park, with Cardiff Rugby entering administration and the WRU – those who won’t be ordering recently picked tulips any time soon – having to put together a rescue package costing around £1m. The upheaval at the capital city region is set to delay the new funding plan that has been put together for Wales’s four professional sides, an arrangement already seen as long overdue.

There was also an announcement the governing body could cut up to 20 jobs as part of a £5m restructuring.

Maybe gates will pick up when all concerned up sticks to St Helen’s next term, but in the meantime those in charge at the Ospreys should be concerned as to why the region’s support base has taken such a dive.

And, in front of just 3,723 spectators in Swansea, Wales were wiped off the European map for the season when the Ospreys succumbed 20-18 to Lyon in Saturday’s Challenge Cup quarter-final. The size of the attendance for such an important game was worrying but hardly surprising, given just two of the region’s previous 10 home matches had been watched by crowds of more than 4,000.

It’s an odd one, though. Mark Jones’ team are playing a watchable brand of rugby with a squad loaded with homegrown players. Their results have also largely been good relative to their budget. Yet the public are not supporting them in sufficient numbers.

Maybe gates will pick up when all concerned up sticks to St Helen’s next term, but in the meantime those in charge at the Ospreys should be concerned as to why the region’s support base has taken such a dive.

Are people simply losing interest? Has enough been done to counter the downturn? Whatever the answer, a way needs to be found to lure back those who are opting out, for the efforts of the squad and the coaches deserve better backing.

The Lyon loss won’t have helped, mind. Jones and his staff will be bitterly disappointed to have seen their team come unstuck after dominating territory and possession. Their pack could not be faulted for effort, winning an avalanche of ball against opponents who had downed Toulon, La Rochelle and Bordeaux-Begles earlier in the campaign, but the home backs struggled to make an impression.

Keiran Williams, it should be said, did the work of three men, carrying no fewer than 26 times, but the Ospreys needed others to complement their pocket-sized battering ram. If variety can add spice to a life, it can also come in handy on a rugby field. Lyon’s defenders were often waiting for Williams’ next charge, and the one after that. Something different was needed, perhaps in the shape of more deception across the backline. As it was, the Ospreys managed to turn just two of their 202 carries into line breaks. However you crunch those numbers, they are not great.

There were also questionable calls to turn down kickable penalties. Track back a couple of thousand years to Sun Tzu writing in his famed book The Art of War ‘opportunities multiply as they are seized’: ancient speak for ‘you take the points in knockout fixtures’. Maybe Jones could do worse than add the tome to next term’s reading list at the Ospreys.

Would the next Wales coach – Steve Tandy’s is the latest name to be hotly tipped – have learned much from Saturday’s events? Probably not.

But Jac Morgan showed up strongly in his general play. Eighteen runs with ball in hand, 19 tackles, a try, two turnovers: if ever a man deserved to walk off the field a winner, it was the Ospreys flanker, who may take the odd day off but doesn’t seem to do off days.

The tachometers of Dewi Lake and Morgan Morris were also under severe strain – 80 carries between them over the past two games – but, ultimately, all the endeavour wasn’t enough against opponents whose depth, defence and ability to make maximum capital out of the chances on offer, off the tee and with ball in hand, saw them home.

Would the next Wales coach – Steve Tandy’s is the latest name to be hotly tipped – have learned much from Saturday’s events? Probably not. Whoever lands the job will surely know all about the appetite for graft of Lake and Morris and other usual suspects. He is certain to have an understanding of what Morgan brings to the table.

But Rhys Davies has made a lot of people sit up and take notice over the past two weekends. After a strong display against the Scarlets, the 6ft 6ins lock banged in 13 carries and 16 tackles against Lyon, playing much of the game at blindside flanker after Justin Tipuric’s early injury.

Wales are not exactly over-endowed with second rows who play with aggression and cross the gain line, so Davies could potentially prove an important figure moving forward. His challenge will be to stay fit, with the injury he picked up against Lyon the latest in a line of setbacks for the former Bath man.

Dan Edwards? Before Saturday, his stock had been sky-high after a player-of-the-match performance against the Scarlets. After Lyon, some could not offload their Dan Edwards shares quickly enough. The reality is, he is a young player still learning the game. Along the way there will be glitches, for consistency and game control take time to develop, as a number of other young 10s in Wales are discovering right now.

There were a few ropey passes and kicks from Edwards against Lyon, mixed in with some decent stuff, but he is only 21, having started barely a couple of dozen games of senior rugby. Good or bad, one performance reveals only so much. The Cwmavon product still has a lot of promise.

Will Wales take one or both Ospreys scrum-halves to Japan this summer? It depends on whether Tomos Williams tours with the Lions. Kieran Hardy also had a few mixed reviews after the Lyon defeat, but he and Reuben Morgan-Williams have been playing well, with the latter especially impressive against the Scarlets.

Due to set aside his boots at the end of the season, Tipuric will exit with his place as one of the Ospreys’ finest ever players assured, over the years his excellence matched only by his modesty.

That said, if Wales are searching for a likely lad to come through behind the scrum they would be pushed to find a likelier one than Macs Page, a 20-year-old wing or centre who has an explosive dimension to his game and the ability to produce Hollywood moments.

Is it too soon to elevate the Scarlet? Possibly, but a lot of people are getting excited about his potential. Maybe a tour to Japan could add a further dimension to his game: it would certainly add to his experience.

Plenty support the idea of the young centre Eddie James making the trip as well. He is raw and still putting miles on the clock, but the 6ft 4ins, 16st 3lb West Walian has skill and breaks tackles.

Sadly, a player with plenty of skill and who makes lots of tackles endured a difficult weekend, with Tipuric seeing his contribution against Lyon cut short because of a pectoral muscle injury.

Due to set aside his boots at the end of the season, the 35-year-old will exit with his place as one of the Ospreys’ finest ever players assured, over the years his excellence matched only by his modesty.

All at the Ospreys will hope the knock last weekend does not prove serious. Probably many beyond Swansea will harbour similar hopes. For injury on a bad day for his team would be no way for the man in the blue hat to sign off.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Welsh rugby is owed some better news.