Dai Flanagan has urged Welsh rugby to look inwards after a disappointing start to the United Rugby Championship season and insisted the four regions have the quality 'to win any game'.
After four rounds of matches, Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets all find themselves in the bottom half of the table and already trailing league leaders Leinster by at least 10 points.
Comments from the Dragons head coach come after Cardiff Director of Rugby Dai Young aired his views that the Welsh sides are '20 points behind most of the teams in this league'. Young, who welcomes Flanagan's Dragons to the Arms Park on Saturday evening, went on to point out that the biggest challenge for the game here is figuring out how to close the gap.
And that is where Flanagan is focusing his energy.
READ MORE: 'Look at the facts!' Dai Young delivers brutal home truth to Welsh rugby
“It’s really interesting isn’t it?" Said Flanagan. "Because I think he said something like ‘factually we are’ but my whole way of life is that we have to find out the why.
“If you look at all four regions, we’ve got four international teams. Our [Dragons] pack is an international pack, I firmly believe we have backs who should be internationals. We have pretty good teams, so why should we be 20 points behind? That’s my question.
“Then we have to look at what we do as staff, how we’re coaching players. Are we putting belief in these players? I was told something was said about there not being much between the regions – which factually there isn’t – but then we’re 20 points behind other teams.
“If that’s the case, we’ve got to find out why we are. I look at myself a lot and I make sure the players look at themselves a lot, we look inwards, because we shouldn’t be [20 points behind].
“We have four international rugby teams. Look at every starting XV in regional rugby at the moment – you’d say ‘that should win any game of rugby that it’s involved in’. Our job as staff is to make sure that we do.”
He added: “Okay, we may be [20 points behind] at the moment. But I’m not here to say we are because I want our boys to get better and believe – I firmly believe – that we can go into any game of rugby and win, no matter who we play.
“I know those comments were said and I’m not sure of the context but, from my end, you look at the four regional teams, the internationals in each line up, and if that’s the case then we have to find out the reason behind it because each XV is good enough, I have no doubt, to win any game of rugby.”
In the Ospreys team to face the Stormers tomorrow night, six members of their forward pack are Wales internationals. Behind the scrum, they boast the likes of Rhys Webb, Owen Watkin and George North.
When Cardiff claimed victory over the Scarlets in last weekend's welsh derby, there were almost 30 international players out of the 46 involved.
The Dragons were much-changed for their trip to Benetton last weekend but the majority of their bench were capped at Test level.
Flanagan does accept that depth of quality can be an issue, but he refuses to view it as an excuse.
The issue of a funding gap between Welsh pro rugby and its domestic competitors was also put to him, but the Dragons boss insisted he was fostering a 'no excuses' culture.
He said: “We may lack some depth and then I’d go back to: ‘Right, what are we doing in our academies and pathways to produce better players more often’ but we certainly don’t lack top end players.
“Look at the success our national team has had over the years. Yeah, the regions haven’t replicated that regularly but they have in periods, we just haven’t done it consistently. That would make me wonder why.
“I’m not saying I have the answers but I firmly believe we have four regional teams stacked with quality. You look at that Cardiff team, it is full of quality in every position. Our team is stacked with quality.
“We should not be going into games thinking we’re 20 points behind anyone, whoever we play.”
The four pro sides and the WRU remain locked in talks - which have lasted almost a year - over the financial strategy that the game in Wales will operate under.
If there were to be a significant increase in cash available to the pro teams - and there is no suggestion that there will be - there is a strong argument for that money being put into the academies and pathway structure that produces talent, rather than further inflating the wages of senior players.
But it's a suggestion that Flanagan takes issue with.
“I think that’s unfair," he insisted. "We’ve just got to be better throughout, with everything we do.
“I think the academies work really well throughout Wales. Because our national team is always thriving, we produce player after player.
“Just look at the back-rowers. Tommy Reffell coming through Pencoed School, Jac Morgan and the journey he went on through Aberavon and the Scarlets academy, Taine Basham here.
“We’re producing players, we just have to find a way that when we enter the field as a region, we have a belief we can win, not entering the field thinking we’re 20 points worse than everyone else.”
Speaking on the same topic, Welsh rugby legend Jamie Roberts pointed out that a lot of teams are struggling financially - Worcester have recently entered administration and that threat is currently looming for Wasps. He believes Welsh sides just have to adapt to the demands of the league, with the four new South African teams enjoying far more success despite only being in the league for a year.
"There are a whole host of factors at play here, whether it's funding - there is so much at play," said Roberts, speaking on a United Rugby Championship media call.
"I think the South African sides have adapted to the way the game is played in this league and I think the Welsh sides need to adapt quicker. I'll be quite blunt about it.
"We're seeing in games that [Welsh] teams aren't managing territory well, they're not making smart decisions on the ball, they're playing when it's not on to play. The South African teams, at the minute, are doing it better, Leinster have done it better than any other team for the last decade.
"Yes you can add in all the factors about funding and players etc. but I just don't think the Welsh club sides are adapting quick enough to the league, the way the game is being played and how these games can be won against proper opposition.
"You can point the finger elsewhere but there comes a point where you have to accept the factors at play and adapt, find a way. Welsh sides might be struggling with all the factors but teams around the world are struggling as well.
"We've just got to be smarter in the way that we're trying to win rugby games against the opposition."
He added: "I think back to the Cardiff-Lions match which I worked on a few weeks ago. That was just a complete lesson in how to manage a game under those conditions. It wasn’t pretty, the wind was howling, it was pouring down with rain. The Lions just got the game by the scruff of the neck and it was a real lesson in how to manage a wet weather game.
“As a Welshman, I watched that match going ‘We should be doing that better than the South Africans because we play in the rain for most of the season’ but the Lions gave Cardiff a lesson on that night."
Cardiff will be looking to build on their victory over the Scarlets last weekend when the Dragons arrive in the Welsh capital, whereas Flanagan's side are hoping to turn things around after a heavy defeat to Benetton.
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