It’s do-or-die in Italy so we must pull together
I know exactly how the Welsh players are feeling at the moment because I've been there.
I came back into the side after the 2003 Wooden Spoon campaign and helped Wales to reach the last eight at the World Cup later that year. We put up a great show against New Zealand and pushed the eventual champions, England, all the way in an epic quarter-final. Those performances laid the foundations for our first Grand Slam in 27 years in 2005.
We didn't win another Six Nations game until our final match in the 2007 Championship, and then suffered the crushing blow of losing to Fiji at the World Cup and not making the knockout phase. A year later, we won the Grand Slam and really got on a roll. Sometimes you have to bottom out before you can move forward.
I heard Ken Owens in his post-match interview claim that the goings on of the previous two weeks were no excuse for losing at home to England for the first time since 2017. You'd expect him to say that, but the reality is that by dragging the players to the brink of a strike the WRU and the regions played a part in letting another game slip through our fingers. That is now three wins in 15 games and a mere four wins at home in the last 15. The stats make dismal reading, the effort remains high.
There are plenty of things to improve in the Welsh game and the last thing either the players or Warren Gatland needs right now is to be criticised for losing in either Italy or France.
Warren is having to build from the bottom up, instill some confidence, broaden his selection options and raise standards all round. If only he had more time . . . but he doesn't.
In his previous reign he only ever experimented with selection in games against Italy. He knows that is going to be impossible this time round. The way Italy pushed Ireland was testament to how far Kieran Crowley has marched his squad forward.
They will have the bit between their teeth after their two exceptional home clashes with the reigning Grand Slam champions France in Round 1 and now the world No. 1 ranked team Ireland.
Having beaten Wales for the first time in Cardiff last season, they will surely be eyeing up back-to-back victories.
It has all the makings of a do-or-die effort for both teams as they chase their first win of the campaign. I just hope that the Welsh players go to Rome and play without fear or pressure. It is a game they could easily lose given their current form, yet it is also the sort of game that could prove to be a catalyst for the rest of the year. One win will do miracles for confidence, and we all went to see the likes of Dafydd Jenkins, Chris Tshiunza, Jac Morgan, Tommy Reffell, Joe Hawkins and Mason Grady get some confidence after tasting victory.
We still have Gareth Anscombe, Dewi Lake and Will Rowlands to return from injury. Josh Navidi and Dan Lydiate are also improving, and the squad will be learning and improving with every day they spend working under Warren. It will be the same with the new coaching team. There are plenty of things to work on, new reference points without the group and new goals to achieve. Things might get worse before they get better, but the whole squad will need the backing of the nation if they are to dig themselves out of the current hole sooner rather than later.
Let's face it, that wasn't a classic Wales v England game, and it was played by two teams still trying to come to terms with the demands of their new coaches. Add into the mix that Warren is trying to fast track some younger players, and it is no surprise to me that things aren't running as smoothly as they used to.
Just cast your mind back to the 2019 Grand Slam game against Ireland in Cardiff. Joe Schmidt's team thought they were in with a chance, yet they were taken to the cleaners. That was a confident and coherent Warren Gatland team that was capable of applying pressure, keeping the foot on the throat and being ultra-clinical.
They were at the peak of their powers, going all the way to the semi-finals of the World Cup later that year and almost reaching the final. Ireland have developed since then, but it took Andy Farrell a bit of time to get his act together. Just look at them now!
So, when Warren and Ken ask for time and for patience, buy into their programme. If you continually howl at the moon when you lose, you quickly get branded a lunatic. If you can think of many better players who could come into the squad at the moment, you might be able to count them on one hand. Warren has to work with what he's got for as long as he's got.
There were bits from all three games to date that showed Wales can do better. It is just a case of slotting them altogether in an 80-minute performance. ‘If only' doesn't win you a game, but you learn from every close shave, every missed opportunity.
The chat in the dressing room, the analysis of the matches, your personal reviews all help to make you a better player. Your judgement improves, your speed of thought and deed steps up with every international game you play.
This Welsh team needs to go too Italy not worrying about averting a ‘Wooden Spoon'. It needs to concentrate on building the bond, the cohesion and the never-say-die attitude that they will need in France at the World Cup later in the year.
Things don't look great at the moment, I'll grant you that, but I believe they will get better. Ken asked for all the stakeholders in Welsh rugby to pull together in the same direction so that “we can improve”. There has never been a more important moment to ‘Back the Boys'.
