New Zealand scrum half Piri Weepu arrived in the Premiership with much fanfare this summer. The poster boy of the new London Welsh side, he epitomised their ambitious nature – a World Cup winner and one of an incredible 26 new signings who were, in head coach Justin Burnell’s words, not looking just for survival but to establish themselves in English rugby’s top flight.

After two rounds, he might rescind that statement if you offered him survival right now. 105 points conceded, and a single league point to their name is a long way from the start they were hoping for.

The problem with so many new players arriving at a club in a short space of time is one of cohesion. Players need time to get to know each other, to gel as a team – but if you put a particular onus on that sort of thing in training, you risk neglecting the actual skills and practices needed to be a good rugby team. For many, it has been a steep learning curve.

“It’s a different style of footy from back home,” admits scrum-half Weepu, who joined from the Auckland Blues. “It’s just about trying to adapt, or buy into, what our coaches want, and are trying to achieve.”

The first game of London Welsh’s return campaign to the Premiership ended in catastrophy as they lost to Exeter Chiefs 0-52 at home. It was a game in which, after a strong start when they looked very comfortable in their new surroundings, they were overrun by Exeter’s accuracy and shell-shocked after a few quick scores.

“I thought the [Exeter] result was expected,” claims Weepu. “Probably not by that much – but they’ve been in the Premiership for how long, and we’ve just been promoted? A few of the boys are still trying to adapt to this style of footy.

“We were in it in the first forty, and then I don’t know what happened in the second half. They were just more clinical, and they applied a lot more pressure on us than we did to them.”

The Bath result was a step in the right direction – they managed some points on the board and even registered their first league point with four tries scored – but it was the second game in succession in which they shipped 50 points. They need to jump several steps forward, and fast.

Weepu admits that they are not quite there yet.

“As long as everyone’s attitude is right – I’m not saying that everyone’s is right – but as long as you’ve got it right, leading into the game, after you’ve done all the preparation and everyone’s ticked the boxes and knows the gameplan, then when you go out on the field, you say one thing and everybody knows what’s happening.

“At this stage we’re not quite there, but we’re nearly there. For us it’s just about making sure we have the right attitude and we stay within our systems.”

In a year’s time, Weepu will be joined in London by many of his compatriots as the New Zealand national team arrives for the start of the Rugby World Cup. Barring several aberrations between now and then, the All Blacks will arrive in the capital favourites to defend the crown they won four years ago on home soil.

Interestingly, having been part of that winning team, Weepu says the current aura of infallibility that surrounds New Zealand could work against them, drawing on his own experience of losing twice in the build-up to 2011.

“We lost to South Africa and Australia, but we saw that as an eye opener and sometimes you need that,” he says. “In some ways it was a blessing that we lost those games. When things are going good (sic) for you, you need something to disrupt it so that you can overcome whatever it is you need to later on down the track.”

It is doubtful if the current All Blacks quite see it that way – they have probably forgotten what it feels like to lose – but it is deeply ominous that even if they do lose between now and the World Cup, they will likely become a better team as a result.

By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43

Piri Weepu was at Twickenham to mark Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets going on sale. Apply for tickets at tickets.rugbyworldcup.com between 12-29 September, 2014

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images