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Graham Price

Graham Price laments Wales and says they're not streetwise enough

An awful lot has been said and written about the Ryan Elias lineout that led to Alex Dombrandt's ultimately decisive score for England against Wales.

How the try supposedly should have been ruled out because of Maro Itoje's barge on Adam Beard; how the referee should have gone to the TMO; how it cost Wales Twickenham victory.

Ifs, buts and maybes.

Personally, I felt that particular moment, which clearly had a major say on the final outcome of the match, was symbolic of a lineout issue that has dogged this Wales team for some time. Certainly under Wayne Pivac's watch, with Jonathan Humphreys the forwards coach yet to fix the problem, but also previously when Warren Gatland was in charge, with Robin McBryde responsible for the set-piece.

That our lineout is still a problem, when I don't really see the same with other teams, is a source of real frustration for me.

If you're going to play any sort of structured game, the first thing you need to do is secure your own possession. Win the ball, keep it and control the play.

But you can't do that unless the lineout functions properly and in my view this seems to be a perennial problem with Wales.

Ireland gave us a right old hiding at the set-piece in the opening match. After the criticism, we pulled ourselves together against Scotland and got it right, yet it was back to the bad old ways again when it mattered versus England.

It just seems to me other countries appear to be far more consistent in getting their lineout right, certainly on their own throw-in - and France definitely will when they march on Cardiff on Friday week seeking to grab another scalp towards a Grand Slam.

With Wales, it's my view that any fix we do manage seems to be a short-term one at best, that it's only a matter of time before lineout issues come to the fore once again.

It makes me think our players are a product of the system, with the regions struggling, our under-20s having two hammerings thus far and too many youngsters failing to make the step up successfully from age-grade rugby to the Wales senior side.

When Ireland beat us 29-7 in the opening game, I noted seven of their forwards were part of the Leinster pack who have regularly beaten Welsh teams in the PRO14 cum United Rugby Championship. A further three were on the bench.

Who is the Leinster forwards coach? McBryde, the same forwards coach under whom the lineout sometimes creaked with Wales previously when Gatland was in charge.

These Irish players are products of their own system, whereby they are brought up with a strong lineout, everyone knows what they are doing, they take the rough with the smooth and they deal with whatever comes their way.

It just seems so natural for them, it was when Paul O'Connell was running the show and still is today.

I really don't think Wayne Pivac and the Welsh players should be blaming the referee for what happened at Twickenham, albeit I wasn't particularly impressed with Mike Adamson, it must be said.

Anyone who has played rugby, and this applies whether it's 1972 or 2022, should know that it's sometimes the law of the jungle out there at Test level and seasoned pros will more often than not try a bit of gamesmanship to disrupt opposition ball - whether that's a lineout, scrum or at the breakdown.

It happens. Always has done - just cast your mind back to Andy Haden and that 1978 Arms Park dive - always will do.

Itoje tried it on and got away with it. He wasn't the first and most certainly won't be the last.

Under the letter of the law there are any manner of offences a referee can blow up for at lineouts, but if he did so the game would be even more stop start than it already is and ruined as a spectacle.

If the referee doesn't spot what occurs, then you have to just get on with it and learn the harsh lesson, rather than bemoan your luck. As we weren't talking about an act of dangerous play, or a blatant forward pass in the build-up, I'm not convinced this sort of thing should be referred to the TMO for review, as he seemed to suggest might have happened.

What you do need to do is be a little more streetwise to avoid the kind of situation where a ball from Elias flies straight over the top and ends up in Dombrandt's hands.

Wales were on the defensive, under pressure near their own line. The one thing they had to do was guarantee ball and get either Tomos Williams or Dan Biggar to kick them back up to halfway.

In those circumstances, I have to question why Elias threw towards Beard in the middle, rather than the more secure option of Will Rowlands at the front. Just tidy it up, get field position, stop the England danger. Make them work hard for the field position again.

Lineouts are a precise mechanism, they look simple but so much needs to work in tandem - the hooker's throw, the lift, the jump, the protective shield afterwards. Any little thing can throw it off course - literally and also metaphorically speaking.

By going to Beard in the middle, Wales left themselves open to Itoje and England disrupting, in one form or another, whereas the front of the line is as secure ball as you can get. The problem is that it's not good creative possession, it's very much slow and defensive, but Wales weren't looking for a try at that particular moment, in that area of the pitch.

We shouldn't hang out Elias to dry, he gets a lot of criticism when the lineout goes astray, but hopefully he learns from this so that come a big World Cup quarter-final 18 months down the line the error isn't repeated.

Practice, practice, practice is the only way forward for Wales, and it needs to be happening this week and next before the French roll into town.

I wouldn't change the lineout personnel, to be honest. Elias has been playing well, in defence, winning turnovers and in the loose, while Beard and Rowlands are the best lock options in the absence of Alun Wyn Jones.

I do hope, when he analyses what went wrong, Pivac doesn't make the excuse of blaming the officials for Twickenham defeat and instead focuses upon a basic problem with the team which is within his and Humphreys' remit to fix.

As I’ve said so many times before, you can only play what is in front of you! This also applies to the referee. If the opposition can get away with exploiting a weakness in the ref then why shouldn’t we exploit that same weakness?

In Liam Williams, Alex Cuthbert, Josh Adams, Louis Rees-Zammit and Nick Tompkins Wales have guys behind who can cause teams real damage. Tomos Williams shone, look at the sharp mind of Kieran Hardy for a try which was almost identical to his score against England the previous year in Cardiff. Once again he was inventive, they were caught napping.

But Wales can only make the most of these talented try-scoring backs if possession is secured and we get the ball in their hands more often with greater control. I'm not even talking here of disrupting the opposition set-piece, that would be a nice bonus. I'm simply talking about us winning our own ball on our own put in, which shouldn't really be too difficult.

I suppose what most disappoints me about Saturday was the fact England were no great shakes and were there for the taking. Yet from the first kick-off, when Marcus Smith booted into our half, Itoje was somehow permitted to win it in the air. That should never happen, we should have secured comfortable possession, but instead they were gifted it and got that early momentum which put them into the lead.

That's what I mean by the basics of winning the ball you should win.

Despite England's flying start, we still came back strongly to outscore them by three well-crafted tries to one, which shows the capability of this team.

But it still starts up front and you can guarantee the French pack will represent the sternest of tests when they come to Cardiff.

Experience tells me they'll try any manner of things off the ball to disrupt and we might well need to fight fire with fire.

The days of saying 'which France will turn up?' have gone, mainly down to the discipline instilled into them by Shaun Edwards.

They will have a right old go at us in the set-piece, fairly and unfairly I believe.

This time we have to be alert to everything.

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