The making of Steve Tandy, from Tonmawr to the top - and the early signs he could be Wales' saviour

Steve Tandy has always lived and breathed Welsh rugby.

When he was just six years old, the now Wales head coach made his first trip to the old national ground at Cardiff Arms Park in 1986 when his village club Tonmawr, from just outside Swansea, won the Welsh Brewers Cup. That day, Tonmawr were coached by Tandy’s father Peter, and Tandy Jnr was ballboy.

On Sunday, Peter and 300 of Tonmawr’s residents will board seven buses and head to the Principality Stadium, wearing the village club's colours of green and white to support their man as Tandy takes charge of Wales for the first time.

‘I was only young,’ Tandy said, when shown a team picture of Tonmawr from their 1986 victory over CIACS.

‘I remember seeing the big bath (in the changing room) as well. Everyone went in! It wasn’t very hygienic. I remember going in and thinking “wow” - that would never be done now. From there, I just got the bug. It was Tonmawr’s invincible season. Dad was the coach. It was a massive day out for the whole village.

‘Me and my brother would always be kicking a ball around. We’d have the Welsh tracksuit. The way I was coached as a young boy was to be energised and enjoy my rugby. That rubbed off on me and is something I try to bring now.’

Tandy’s parents still live in Tonmawr. His father still tends to the club’s pitches and his best friend Ross Livingstone coaches one of the junior sides. Of a populace of roughly 1,000, around 30 per cent will be at Wales’ autumn opener against Argentina.

It is a heart-warming story and much needed at a time when doom and gloom has been a near-constant Welsh rugby accompaniment.

‘The support from my village has been amazing,’ said Tandy, who earned a Wales shot after impressing in Australia and with Scotland under Gregor Townsend. ‘My family still live there. When you represent your nation, you represent more than yourself and that's the power of it. I'm really emotional as well.

‘You see the support and what it means to others for you to go and represent your country. It’s going to be a big day for Tonmawr, but more importantly the team.’

Tandy, 45, is Wales’ first Welsh full-time head coach since Gareth Jenkins departed in 2007, with brief stints for Rob Howley and Robin McBryde as caretakers for Warren Gatland.

He does, without a doubt, have a significant job on his hands. Wales only ended a run of 18 straight Test defeats in the summer before Tandy officially took charge.

Away from the field, the country’s domestic game is in trouble as the Welsh Rugby Union plan to cut the number of men’s clubs from four to three, amid ongoing financial issues.

Against this backdrop, Tandy has to try and achieve success. He faces a tough task, but has made an immediate impact. Tandy can’t control Welsh rugby’s politics. Even that proved beyond Gatland. What Tandy can do is what he does best.

While the off-field carnage is impossible to ignore, the squad environment Tandy has created has been well received by the players. He is clearly a very good coach and is more hands-on than his permanent predecessors Gatland and Wayne Pivac.

Tandy has altered Wales’ training schedule, changed how training and meetings are held and ensured the team room is now a more relaxed environment. He has, as Daily Mail Sport revealed this week, also switched around the home and away changing rooms at Principality Stadium. Cynics might summarise this as window dressing, but Tandy is right to bid for a fresh start in all areas.

It is quite clear as a proud Welshman how much the job means to him.

‘The only thing I ever wanted to do was play for Wales,’ said Tandy, who had a successful playing career as a flanker with Neath and Ospreys, but never won a cap. ‘I would have loved to, but that wasn’t meant to be. Now, it’s a massive privilege for me as a coach to have the opportunity to do that.’

Tandy’s first international selection continues similar themes from the Matt Sherratt era, when the now Wales backs coach was in interim charge for the end of the Six Nations and summer tour.

Ben Thomas continues as a ball-playing No12. Louis Rees-Zammit, the darling of the nation, is fit enough only for the bench this weekend as he continues to recover from a toe injury suffered on club duty with Bristol.

Rhys Carre, the Saracens prop, is a headline starter. Daily Mail Sport understands that Wales’ strength and conditioning team have been impressed by an improvement in physical performance ahead of facing Argentina.

But time will tell as to whether Wales can improve in the area where they have struggled most since the 2023 World Cup. Carre brings heft. But more is required to beat the best.

Argentina certainly don’t lack for power with the likes of former Leicester hooker Julian Montoya and Pablo Matera in their pack. They have pace behind the scrum too, and put it all together to devastating effect in wins over the British & Irish Lions and New Zealand this year.

Wales must beat Japan in their second game. Do that and show signs of improvement and a sense of identity against Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa and Tandy will have had a successful autumn. His team simply must not fall below their already low ranking of 12th, as to do so would make their draw for the 2027 World Cup – to be held in December – nigh on impossible.

Such a scenario is a stark reflection of how far Wales have fallen.

But whatever happens in Tandy's first game in charge, the people of Tonmawr will go home proud.

WALES: Murray; Rogers, Llewellyn, B Thomas, Adams; Edwards, T Williams; Carre, Lake, Assiratti, Jenkins, Beard, Mann, Morgan (capt), Wainwright. Replacements: Belcher, Smith, Griffin, F Thomas, Cracknell, Hardy, Evans, Rees-Zammit.

ARGENTINA: S Carreras; Delguy, Piccardo, Chocobares, M Carreras; Prisciantelli, Benitez Cruz; Vivas, Montoya (capt), Delgado, Petti, Kremer, Matera, Gonzalez, Oviedo. Replacements: Ruiz, Gallo, Rapetti, Alemanno, Grondona, Moyano, Mallia, Isgro.

Kick-off: 3.10pm, Sunday. Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (NZ). TV: TNT Sports.