Welsh official tells Henry to quit

Les Williams, vice-chairman of the Welsh Rugby Union, today called on coach Graham Henry to resign.

There will be an emergency meeting of the WRU tomorrow to discuss Saturday's 54-10 Six Nations defeat by Ireland.

But Williams set the tone of meeting today by saying: "Graham should do the honourable thing and resign. To those who would ask whether we could afford to sack him, I would say we cannot."

Henry is belived to be on a salary of £235,000 a year and it would cost the WRU almost double that to pay him off.

Williams said: "The future of our game is at stake and he is clearly not getting through to the players. It was a mistake for him to coach the Lions last summer."

Meanwhile, David Watkins, the only man to captain Great Britain at both rugby union and league, believes the management structure of the national side is top-heavy and that money would be better spent on developing young players.

He said: "We have a coach, a team manager, defensive gurus, kicking gurus and forward experts - and we still can't get it right.

"There are Welsh players who can play better than they are. It is up to Graham whether he wants to stay and the Welsh Rugby Union whether they want him to go, but after what has happened the decision is clear-cut to a lot of people.

"He has a five-year contract, so whatever happens he is going to be okay."

Watkins fears the heads-inthe-sand mentality of officialdom and the expectation of a nation who crave a return to the glory years is not a combination to bring about rapid change.

"If we beat France in a fortnight, and that's not beyond the bounds of possibility, the euphoria will be such that all the problems will be buried under the table for the next six months," he said.