March 11th, 2004: Appointed Wales coach as the successor to the New Zealander Steve Hansen. He did not initially apply, having been twice overlooked, but just when it was assumed the job would go to Llanelli's coach Gareth Jenkins, the WRU persuaded Ruddock, then of Newport-Gwent Dragons, to throw his hat into the ring.
He inherited Scott Johnson, the skills coach under Hansen, and a team that had grown incredibly loyal to the New Zealander.
Ruddock lost his first international in Argentina 50-44, but won the second Test 35-20. The tour was completed with a 53-18 loss to South Africa, whom they again lost to in the autumn internationals (38-36) before getting to within a point of New Zealand (26-25) and hammering Romania 66-7 and Japan 98-0.
February 5th, 2005: Wales beat England 11-9 and went on to win their first grand slam in 27 years. They blew Italy away in Rome, 38-8, recovered from 15-6 down at half-time in Paris, and ran Scotland off their feet at Murrayfield. The title was settled with a 32-20 win over Ireland at Cardiff and Ruddock was credited with having the sense to leave the Hansen blueprint for a fast, open game alone.
November 2005: Leaks suggested a rift between Ruddock and parts of his coaching staff and some senior players who do not want to see Wales revert to more pragmatic game. First appearance of the joke: "Why do they call Mike Ruddock the bus?" -"Because he's no coach." Wales were beaten by South Africa, but victory over Australia for the first time in 18 years was assumed to be enough to heal the wounds. However Johnson, a firm favourite with the players, was reported to be considering a return to Australia or a move to Leicester. The Australian is seen in the director's box at Welford Road.
February 2006: Wales went into their title defence - starting against England at Twickenham - with Ruddock still to sign a new contract with the WRU. He said they had "shaken hands" on a deal and only the "fine print" had to be worked out. However, Wales were rocked by injuries and suspensions. The Lions trio Ryan Jones, Brent Cockbain, and Tom Shanklin are out of action for the championship, as are Kevin Morgan and Luke Charteris. Gavin Henson picked up a seven-week suspension that made him unavailable for the first three games and Sonny Parker announced his retirement from international rugby.
Wales were well beaten at Twickenham, but more wounding for Ruddock was the spat between his players and the press in the run-up to the Scotland game. The squad, led by captain Gareth Thomas, refused to attend a press conference or be interviewed until the journalist who ghosted Henson's book, My Grand Slam Year, had left the building. In the book Henson criticised the ability and eligibility of some Wales internationals and the journalist had further inflamed Welsh feelings with an article in the Twickenham programme defending Henson's right to air his opinions.
Ruddock remonstrated with his players, telling them to do the press conference. The players refused and sided with their captain. Thomas later apologised for the stand-off. "It was a private disagreement that became public," the captain said. "In hindsight the stance we took was a mistake on our part. It was a breakdown in communication between parties."
February 12th 2006: Wales beat Scotland 28-18, but the spat badly wounded Ruddock, reopening the wounds of autumn 2005. He was seen as having lost the respect of his players. There were also questions of his missing key club matches for "personal reasons". After asking Cardiff to play Gethin Jenkins at tighthead, the coach failed to make the match.
February 14th, 2006: Ruddock met Steve Lewis, the WRU chief executive. He offered to see out the Six Nations championship but became the third Wales coach in 16 years to depart before it is completed.
