The legendary Bill McLaren, commenting on a match involving South Africa in the 1990s, said: “When they start, it’s like watching a cattle drive. Huge guys trotting around the paddock like rabid rhinos.”

That must have been how the Welsh forwards felt on Saturday, ruthlessly swept by an Irish pack that appeared to have crossed the line of its own accord.

For all the misgivings about Warren Gatland’s selection for Wales’ trip to face a rejuvenated Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, the only area of ​​improvement not up for debate is the top five.

The Irish took Wales to the laundry in this department, and to be perfectly honest, it was the Achilles heel of 2019.

Ireland gained significant meters in the first quarter of the game, with Tadhg Beirne, Kelan Dorries, Dan Sheehan and James Ryan advancing at knot speed.

Wales were very passive defensively with line speed, although they improved after the break, not to zero.

Wales had a lot more possession in the second half, but that’s a misleading stat because they still lost the tackle, meaning they couldn’t cross the winning line to generate a fastball to cripple the Irish defence.

During Gatland’s first term in charge, the focus was on power, doing the basics well in terms of standard, low error and sheer discipline, while his defense was nearly impenetrable at times.

Wales are a long way from those levels at the moment, and while there are some calls for changes to the back line, the point is lost as the main cause of their problems lies with their forwards.

While Gatland had several carriers on the 2008-2019 squad that allowed for some strong play, he wasn’t blessed with the same luck this time around.

Alan Wyn Jones was often praised, and rightly so, but he also had other first-class international locks to choose from, including Ian Evans, Luke Charteris, Ian Gough, Bradley Davies and later Jake Ball.

They desperately lack the dynamism and power of Will Rowlands’ Racing 92 second-row and you can bet Gatland will fight tooth and nail to convince the Rugby Professional Council to grant special dispensation to select the 30-year-old for the World Cup. Rugby World. .

But, getting back to the present, the boiler room is an area that Gatland will no doubt be considering major changes.

Alan Wyn Jones was ruled out of the Scotland Test after failing a head injury assessment, saving Gatland from making a difficult but correct decision.

As much of a great player as Jones is, he was out of the woods on Saturday and it’s time to put some faith in Dafydd Jenkins, even if he’s fit.

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At 6’7″ and 17 pounds, Jenkins has the physical profile to make an impact at the Test level. The 20-year-old is a powerful ball handler and a skilful striker, although he captained Exeter Chiefs in the English Premier League aged 19.

Gatland may not want to trade the last two rows, but Adam Bird’s place could be under scrutiny. The 42-cap international has been a solid player, but for all the weight he brings to the scrum and the excellence in the defensive order, he is another who currently lacks the hands and dynamism required at Test level.

Welsh ranked block in regional rugby this season was Rhys Davies.

Davies, 24, is a physical specimen at 6ft 9in and 18.3lbs, and was an unsung hero for the Ospreys as they defeated French champions Montpellier and English King Leicester Tigers to reach the World Cup play-offs. Heineken Champions Cup for the first time since 2010. .

Davies has a really nasty lead that is missing from the Welsh top five and will no doubt be lost during the Six Nations if not Murrayfield this Saturday.

Collapse was another area in which Ireland played repeatedly against Wales in their disappointing first round defeat, although this was mainly due to the defeat of all five forwards.

Wales were unable to stop Ireland’s cancer and were often intercepted and penalized for breakdowns.

Given the fluidity and speed with which Scotland attacked in their famous victory over England at Twickenham, Wales will need to dominate in this area if they are to have any hope of victory.

World-class duo Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau were far from their prime last weekend, while young rider Jack Morgan was the back row trio’s choice against Ireland.

Wales looked off balance in this area and looked much better when Leicester Tigers star Tommy Raffel came on.

Refell displays a real physique and is arguably the best escape game representative on the team.

That amounts to heresy in Welsh rugby, but Wales would be better off using Tipuric as an off-the- bench striker, with Raffell starting to contain the threat of interruption from Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson.

Before the World Cup, Gatland must give Welsh Rugby Union Exiles Director Gareth Davies the urgent task of finding a South African, Englishman or New Zealander who is close to his Welsh grandmother, because it is an area where that Wales is struggling. .

The Ospreys’ destructive scrum-half Tom Botha should be part of the equation when they qualify for Wales in the summer.

With just seven months to go until the World Cup, Gatland needs to find solutions to Wales’ problems quickly if he is to succeed in the early days of his second term as president.

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