LONG READ Taine Basham: ‘I want the Wales No. 7 jersey back on my back’

Turn back the clock close on three years and there were plenty offering the view that Wales had found their openside for the future.

For the avoidance of doubt, the chap in question didn’t go by the name of Jac Morgan or Tommy Reffell.

Some might remember it was the young Dragons flanker Taine Basham attracting the plaudits after a startling series of displays in the 2021 autumn series. The praise was effusive, with one writer even choosing the new boy in a World XV picked on the basis of displays in the November Tests.

Flick back to today and the script hasn’t gone completely to plan. Basham has yet to start a Test under Warren Gatland since the Kiwi returned as Wales head coach 21 months ago. He also missed the cut for the summer tour of Australia, even though Wales were without the injured Morgan and even though they were not overly blessed with forwards who could carry the ball with purpose and power.

Cause for concern for the youngster from Gwent? Absolutely. Or maybe just good reason to redouble efforts to convince Wales’ team boss of his quality.

And quality he does have. Former Wales coach Wayne Pivac certainly thought so, for after the product of Talywain RFC made his full Wales debut, Pivac sat him down, identified areas for potential improvement and then commented admiringly on the way Basham had taken the fight to the All Blacks.

It doesn’t matter who I’m playing against: I’m still going to be me, bringing my qualities to the game. My play wasn’t perfect that day, but I tried to get stuck into them.

“Wayne told me there were a few faults in my game, but he also said there was stuff to build on. He said I was up against the All Blacks and brought it to them,” recalls Basham.

“I’ll hang my hat on that.

“I was very young at the time, but that’s the way I try to go about things.

“It doesn’t matter who I’m playing against: I’m still going to be me, bringing my qualities to the game. My play wasn’t perfect that day, but I tried to get stuck into them.”

What you see is what you get with the 24-year-old. He once spoke self-deprecatingly in an interview, saying he wasn’t the best behaved at school, but he is a good talker and easy to warm to. In camp with Wales, he made a favourable impression with his enthusiasm, confidence and Gwent Valleys bonhomie.

Undoubtedly, certain things have changed in his life since he broke into the Wales set-up.

For a start, he has set up home with his partner, with the couple also welcoming a son, Tomas, into their world.

Professionally, there has been Gatland’s second coming, while Morgan and Reffell have come through as players of uncommon quality, potentially the Warburton and Tipuric of this Wales era, making the job of any other Welsh No. 7 with designs on making the Test team immeasurably more difficult.

So what’s a boy to do? Simply accept the old adage that one day you’re a rooster, the next you’re a feather duster? Or resolve to widen the scrap for the shirt? Unsurprisingly, Basham, who hails from a boxing family, has chosen the second option.

“All of us have different qualities,” he says of himself, Morgan and Reffell.

“We played for Wales Under-20s together. The three of us were opensides, but I remember in one game, Reffy was at six, Jac at seven and I was at eight. That showed what our points of differences were, with huge variations in skill sets.

I want to work on my strength and I’ve put on a couple of kilos in muscle mass, with the aim of being more explosive in my carrying

“Maybe we didn’t think we’d all be fighting for the same shirt one day, but we’ve gone our  different ways at regional level and we’ve all held the Welsh No. 7 jersey at different points.

“The competition is good in that it lifts your game. As a seven, you know in Wales there are always going to be at least two or three people fighting for the position. It’s been like that for a long time.

“But I just focus on myself. My point of difference is my ball carrying. I enjoy getting the ball in my hands and I try to be explosive.

“I’m looking forward to the season starting. We’ve had a tough eight weeks at the Dragons with Ryan Chambers coming on board. He’s been in charge of Wales’ strength and conditioning programme and this pre-season has been the hardest I’ve experienced. I think we’ll benefit massively as a team and as individuals.

“I want to work on my strength and I’ve put on a couple of kilos in muscle mass, with the aim of being more explosive in my carrying. I’ve been doing a lot of gym work and a lot of fitness, so I should be able to repeat what I do on the pitch.

“So, hopefully it’ll be a good campaign for me and for the Dragons.”

Basham has featured for the national team under Gatland but only as a replacement. It’s a role he is good at, adding impetus when all around are tiring, but he hasn’t given up hope of convincing the selectors he’s worth a chance in the run-on side.  “I know I can bring impact off the bench with Wales: that was my role during the World Cup. But I want the No. 7 jersey back on my back,” he says.

“Injuries and inconsistency haven’t helped me, and selection can go the wrong way. You just have to accept it for what it is and try to turn the situation around. Sometimes, I have found form, only to be hit back by a bump. I dislocated an elbow when I was playing well, for instance.

“But let’s not beat about the bush: there are also some really good sevens out there.

“It’s just up to me to show I deserve it.”

I don’t want people telling him when my son’s grown up: ‘Your dad played a few times for Wales but he could have played more.’ It really drives me, to make sure he has someone to look up to.

What of those events away from the pitch? Psychologists reckon that becoming a father can alter a man in multiple ways, leading to a reordering of priorities. Basham himself is on record as saying how much parenthood has changed his outlook on life.

But he also reckons it has had a significant benefit professionally.

“I’m pretty young (24), so I’m still trying to learn about being a father and stuff, but, to be honest, it makes you hungrier in your career,” says Basham, whose great great grandfather Johnny Basham was a British and European boxing champion at both welterweight and middleweight.

“Tommy is 21 months now. As soon as he was born, I thought: ‘Right, he needs someone to look up to.’

“So, if anything, having him has made me more determined to do well.

“I don’t want people telling him when he’s grown up: ‘Your dad played a few times for Wales but he could have played more.’

“It really drives me, to make sure he has someone to look up to.”

Basham still follows the fortunes of Talywain RFC, where he cut his rugby teeth, starting at the age of eight. His dad Dai was one of his coaches and Basham junior couldn’t get enough of the game. He would apparently play one match, wolf down a plate of sausage and chips and head straight back out to play again.

A lot of his old pals are still involved in the club, which plays in the Welsh Championship, and there is huge pride at what one of their own has achieved in the game. Basham gave them extra reason to celebrate during the 2022 Six Nations when his try against Ireland triggered half-price Jagerbombs in the clubhouse.

“They’re a great club, “ says Basham.

“Throughout youth and all, we were winning our games. Some of the boys have gone on to play for Pontypool, some for Ebbw Vale, obviously I’ve gone down to the Dragons, but they have  kept the core of players I played with and it’s been great to see them going up the divisions.

“The club is the heart of the community, with really good people who I see often.”

You look at the region from afar and you look at the players we’ve had and still have, and there’s no obvious reason why we shouldn’t be winning a bit more.

Holmes and Watson are not required to work out that playing for the region where he was born and brought up matters to Basham. “Gwent is home,” he says. “I’ve moved a few miles down the road but I’m always popping up to visit the family. There’s people I know and feel comfortable with in Talywain.

“Not a lot of Gwent people move. Home is comfortable for most of us.

“I love the place and I enjoy playing for the Dragons. I just want us to do well. I speak to fans when I’m out and about and they say: ‘A win today would really pick us up.’  It doesn’t always happen, but we are trying.

“You look at the region from afar and you look at the players we’ve had and still have, and there’s no obvious reason why we shouldn’t be winning a bit more.

“Hopefully, that will happen in the new season. I’m looking forward to playing with Mone Funaki, our new signing in the back row, while it’s always good to play alongside Waino [Aaron Wainwright]. He’s an athlete with good feet and he’s a great lineout option.

“We have a young group, but with that comes excitement. I watched the recent game against Bristol and there was a boy at full-back, Huw Anderson, who hadn’t played much senior rugby, but he just went out and played. On the night, he was a shining light. That’s a focus for us this year. Whoever comes to Rodney Parade will be up against a team who are fast and exciting and want to play with intent.”

Basham is not too proud to admit that he studies other players as he strives to improve his own game.

Two stellar Rugby Championship talents have, in particular, caught his eye.

“Kwagga Smith is one of the best in the world,” says Basham. “He’s so underrated at what he does.  Not only is he a menace in defence, he’s also explosive in attack.

“That’s the kind of seven I want to be – one who can attack, but who is also good in defence.

“I analyse his game and I also look at Ardie Savea’s. I know I have work-ons, but I think it’s good if you’re trying to get better as a player.”

Few coaches would take issue with him over that.

And let’s see what the season brings, with Basham now looking forward instead of back.

Maybe the headlines haven’t quite panned out as he would have wanted since the heady days of the 2021-22 campaign.

And maybe Messrs Morgan and Reffell are setting skyscraper-high standards for Welsh opensides.

But don’t forget the kid with the Hollywood game over at the Dragons, who once achieved four turnovers in a match against Cardiff, who hits hard in defence and who, according to his old coach Bernard Jackman, has a boxer’s footwork that allows him to beat people for fun.

He has to be worth keeping an eye on.