At the conclusion of 2024 - a year where Wales had not won a single Test match for the first time since before the Second World War - Welsh Rugby Union CEO Abi Tierney doubled down on her belief that Warren Gatland was still the right man to take the national side forward.
Tierney revealed Gatland had come close to losing his job but the WRU had decided to give him one final chance to turn around Wales fortunes before a review - yes another one - at the end of the Six Nations. Despite Wales' woes over the past 18 months Gatland had just enough credit in the bank in the eyes of many but the goodwill has finally run out after this lacklustre 22-15 defeat to Italy in Rome.
The stats are there in black and white. Wales have not won a single Test match in 490 days and this was their 14th defeat on the bounce. To make matters worse, Gatland's side have now fallen to 12th in the world rankings - one below Georgia who would so desperately love to replace Wales in the oldest rugby competition in the world. It is very difficult to see where Wales go from here and it is even harder to imagine Gatland retaining his job post-Six Nations with back-to-back wooden spoons now a very likely prospect.
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Welsh rugby's problems are multi-faceted but this is a squad in desperate need of an injection of fresh ideas from somewhere. The most one-eyed Wales fan will probably point to the way they finished the game and the fact they had outscored their hosts by two tries to one.
But the reality is they got what they deserved. Italy have improved significantly in recent seasons but they are still no great shakes.
Yet Wales' attack was far too static and predictable and the Azzurri looked comfortable until the closing stages of the game. Wales have a sprinkling of quality in the shape of their totemic captain Jac Morgan, experienced No 8 Taulupe Faletau, livewire scrum-half Tomos Williams and exciting fullback Blair Murray but that is not enough to mask the serious deficiencies in this side.
The reality is Italy did not need to do much, with Gonzalo Quesada's side comfortable until the final stages of the game. It was as if they could just let Wales have the ball safe in the knowledge they'd almost certainly mess up somewhere along the line.
The experiment of playing Ben Thomas at 10 surely has to end. Thomas is a lovely footballer and has an international future, but the 26-year-old should be deployed in the number 12 shirt - his regular position for Cardiff.
Gatland's side tried their best to play the conditions in the early stages but lady luck was not on their side with Josh Adams twice spilling the ball forward with the try line at his mercy - once at the start of the game and the second in the closing stages of the first-half.
At least in Paris they had a solid set-piece, but the scrum was a disaster in the first-half while they struggled to win clean ball at the lineout. Wales enjoyed 60% territory in the first-half but still found themselves 16-3 behind at the interval.
They simply were not accurate enough while the home side looked far more composed. In filthy conditions the ball was like a bar of soap and on a drier day Wales may well have gone into the lead at half-time if Adams had held onto the ball.
Wales looked a lot better on the stroke of half-time as they stretched Italy but were unable to take their opportunities. What was extremely concerning after the break was the fact Wales seemed incapable of changing tactics when things were evidently not working until it was too late
Winning Test matches is as much about problem solving as it is about winning the physical battle but Wales looked clueless for large parts in Rome. There was a late surge from Wales which did offer some hope with the replacements in the pack helping to fix the underlying issues at the scrum and the lineout.
Gareth Thomas is one of Wales' better player but it does feel as if Nicky Smith deserves an opportunity to start against Ireland. The Leicester Tigers prop made a big difference in the scrum while both Elliot Dee and Keiron Assiratti made impacts.
There was a much better balance to the backrow once Aaron Wainwright took to the field and the Dragons star must join Morgan and Faletau from the off against Simon Easterby's side in a fortnight. But the reality is the game was pretty much gone by the time Wales had sparked into life.
But to focus too much on the strong finish to the game would be clutching at straws. Wales have been found wanting yet again and while the wider structural issues in Welsh rugby have contributed towards this current malaise, Gatland's position is close to untenable.
But the WRU also need to take most of the responsibility because Wales are back in the doldrums as a result of 15 years of ineptitude with the underfunding of the regional game and the development pathways. Tierney and Collier-Keywood have a mountain of problems they need to fix.
But is it fixable? Not without radical changes.
The damage was done by former caretakers of the Welsh game but it is on Tierney and Collier-Keywood to sort it out.
