AT the start of the month Tom Brady led New England to glory in Super Bowl XLIX, a fourth such triumph for the legendary quarterback.

Yet his first success for the Patriots came in slightly controversial circumstances; as a back-up he had replaced Drew Bledsoe when the number one had suffered internal injuries following a bit hit.

Brady's coach, Bill Belichick, stuck with his deputy all the way through the season, even when the man who had previously been the face of the team, and had been given a $100million 10-year deal, was back to full fitness.

It was a tough choice but history has proved that it was the right choice.

Wales boss Warren Gatland has been faced by plenty of decisions this week and has had to consider his position on a number of players who seem untouchable. In the end he has rather predictably given the side that failed so miserably against England another crack.

Quarterbacks usually know they are cemented in the team, that it will take injury of something catastrophic for them to be benched.

And that has been a criticism thrown at the Welsh national team; the old adage of 'play well and keep the jersey' hasn't always applied.

There have been periods when players have come in because of injury and have done well and as a result there is pretty good depth in the squad in most positions, not quite to the extent of England's resources but far better than most.

However, what good is a list of quality back-ups if they do not have the carrot of a place in the XV?

It is understandable that some players are of such quality that they simply have to be selected – Sam Warburton, Alun Wyn Jones, Leigh Halfpenny, Taulupe Faletau – but plenty are inked in regardless of form.

In fairness to Gatland & Co there have been some fresh introductions over the past year with Samson Lee taking over at tighthead while Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar have profited from being given the nod consistently at half-back.

However, so frequently have questions been asked about whether Dan Lydiate and Alex Cuthbert deserve their starting berths that it almost becomes boring to raise the subject after every setback.

Gatland has proved that he isn't scared of making big calls and in 2011 established the Lydiate-Warburton-Faletau combination and gave responsibility to fellow burgeoning internationals Halfpenny, George North and Jonathan Davies.

But in recent years he has been a stubborn selector and has been reluctant to change approach or personnel despite a series of failures against the southern hemisphere big guns.

Liam Williams has been brought in for the Scotland game but even if he has a stormer you wouldn't be entirely confident of him keeping his place for Paris.

Consistency of selection can be a good thing and prior to last Friday's humbling by England most would have said that Wales were the side with a clear sense of direction.

But prior to that Millennium Stadium disappointment it was assistant coach Rob Howley that pointed out that the tried and tested has been comprehensively beaten at Twickenham in 2014.

Now they've also been turned over by the English on their own patch and have lost their last 10 to other World Cup, Pool A big guns Australia.

In sporting parlance, is Gatland learning the lessons?