‘Fires everywhere’ – where Wales must improve

There are countless problems facing Welsh rugby right now.

So to pick out five areas for the men’s national team to improve before they face Six Nations champions France next weekend is like trying to choose which root vegetable you would use in a sword fight with a samurai.

It is coming up to three years since Wales won a Six Nations match, with Saturday’s 48-7 drubbing by England the latest in a long, ever-increasing line of humiliations.

There are facets of Wales’ game that urgently need addressing before freewheeling France bring their Grand Slam-chasing bandwagon to Cardiff.

The most obvious place to start is defence.

Wales have conceded 248 points – including 34 tries – in Tandy’s first five games in charge.

Those are grim statistics in any context but they will be particularly concerning for Tandy, who was previously defence coach for Scotland and the British and Irish Lions.

“There’s so much to try and fix in a week, and you can’t fix everything,” former Scotland captain John Barclay said on Rugby Special.

“You fix the things that are easiest to fix. First up: tackling. Defence is much easier to do than attack – it’s more of a mindset.

“If you’re Wales defence coach, you’re looking at the lack of intent in the tackle. That’s not a skill decision, that’s a mindset decision.

“How do we get in front of people? How do we slow them down? Let’s fix our defence, let’s be a hard team to play against, let’s not give away easy wins.

Wales were expected to lose against England – and heavily.

Winning at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham is never easy for a visiting team, never mind one in a state of crisis.

However, Wales’ lack of discipline on Saturday made their task infinitely more difficult.

Wales conceded 16 penalties – their highest total in a Test since 2009 – and had four yellow cards, the joint most any team has been shown in a Six Nations match.

Two of those sin bins, for prop Nicky Smith and captain Dewi Lake, came in the opening 18 minutes.

“It’s not possible to play international rugby and concede 11 penalties within the first 20-25 minutes and two yellow cards,” former Wales scrum-half Richie Rees said on the Scrum V podcast.

“We saw the impact that it had towards the tail end of the game, the fatigue of the players, their body language. They were absolutely out on their feet.

“I don’t blame them. Tomos Williams, Louis Rees-Zammit and Aaron Wainwright – they were completely out on their feet. It comes down to the indiscipline, that is something they can control.

“There were complete variants in the type of penalties that they gave away, but it’s something that they simply have to improve, and at least it is something that is in their domain.

Given Wales’ sorry recent form, only a handful of players can be sure of their places in the team to face France on Sunday.

“We have to change some players because some of those players have had plenty of chances, and they’re simply not good enough on the international level,” ex-Wales back-rower Emyr Lewis told BBC Radio Cymru’s Dros Frecwast.

“I don’t like to name individuals but, without a doubt, the balance in midfield isn’t right, so I would definitely bring bigger players in like Owen Watkin. We know how good he is defensively and we have to have a strong defence against France.

“The back row, again no balance there, we have to bring in bigger players especially against such a huge French pack. I’d definitely bring in Ollie Cracknell.

“We have to look at bringing in big, strong, rough players who will give the French pack a challenge.”

Former Wales centre Scott Williams is another who would like to see changes in his old position.

“As a former centre, Ben Thomas didn’t have the best of games if I’m honest,” Williams said on Scrum V.

“Eddie James can be a real weapon for us, he’s a massive guy, but I looked at the stats and he had three carries.

“I know that’s not all on him, that’s the way the game went. But he’s a 12 in my eyes. He needs to get on the ball, needs to get Wales over the gain line. He’s 108 kilos, or whatever he is, he’s hard to stop.

“I’d like to see Eddie James at 12. He needs to be at 12. Whether Ben Thomas goes 13 or whatever, I just think he’s a little bit lost there.”

Rees also wants to see bigger, more physically imposing players selected.

“For me you need [wing or centre] Mason Grady and [prop] Rhys Carre on the field,” he said on the same podcast.

Wales did not get much of a chance to show their attacking threat against England because they spent most of the match defending.

On the rare occasions they did have the ball, Wales’ lineout malfunctioned and the backs did not click into gear.

“I couldn’t see an identity with Wales and we didn’t do the simple things right,” former Wales and Lions wing Alex Cuthbert told the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

“Lineouts were a problem all game. Their skills came under pressure and they made errors. That’s what happens when you can’t match up physically and, right now, we just don’t have those players.

“Even when we scored it was just one way. It was slow, lethargic and we looked like we were lacking ideas. That’s what happens when you lose power.

“[Wales attack coach] Matt Sherratt will be very detailed in attack about first plays off lineout and scrum but, when you don’t win the first couple of collisions and you don’t have parity [up front], then there’s nothing you can really do.

The technical side of the game is enough of a concern but, according to former England wing Chris Ashton, Wales’ mauling at Twickenham also exposed some mental flaws.

“It was the easy stuff that let them down,” he said on Rugby Special.

“It’s the easier part of the game to be mentally switched on, to not give penalties away, to not allow England into your 22 and give easy tries away.

“You’d think that’s a side of the game that you can take for granted, that the lads would be switched on, but they weren’t.

“It just goes to show he [Tandy] is trying to put fires out everywhere and sometimes you can lose concentration on what you’re trying to do.

Even if Wales significantly improve all these elements of their play, they still face a daunting task when France visit Principality Stadium.

Les Bleus tore Ireland to shreds in their opening 36-14 win on Thursday, scoring five tries in a devastating attacking display.

If France were able to dismantle Ireland so brutally, it is a frightening prospect to consider what they might do to Wales.

“I’m very worried about Sunday,” former Wales wing Philippa Tuttiett told BBC Sport Wales.

“I hate to say this being Welsh but, as a rugby fan, I’m actually excited to see this France team and the brand of rugby they are playing.

“That loss in the autumn to South Africa seems to have ignited them and, even though they won the Six Nations last year, they seem to have taken their game to another level.