You certainly couldn’t accuse Wales U20s coach Byron Hayward of pulling any punches over his team’s thumping defeat to Ireland.
The former fly-half has been brutally honest in his verdict on the 53-5 hammering they suffered in their Six Nations opener out in Cork.
He says some players simply didn’t work as hard as they should have during the Covid lockdown and are “a million miles” off where they need to be physically as a result.
Hayward has also questioned some individuals’ commitment and effort in the Welsh jersey and has called on them to look in the mirror.
He has said there will now be changes to the team for Friday night’s second Championship match against Scotland at Colwyn Bay’s Parc Eirias.
“We have players who are definitely ready for it physically and we have some, as you saw last weekend, who were a million miles off it,” said the former Wales defence coach.
“I don’t think the Covid situation has helped, but then that comes back down to the individual.
“It was no different for the Irish team or the other sides. We’ve all had Covid.
“The question I have asked of the boys is when we were all in lockdown were you having six months sat in the house doing nothing or were you having six months working on your conditioning?
“I think it’s clear we have boys who maybe haven’t worked as hard as they should have to make those physical gains.”
Asked whether he had made it clear to certain players that they had a lot of catching up to do, he said: “Yes, in one word.
“They have been made aware they need to up the standard to play at this level.
“It might sound harsh, but we are not doing our jobs if we don’t. We have to do that.
“We are here to represent our country, all of us, we have a job to do and we didn’t represent our country well at all last Friday.
“A lot of boys put a lot of hard work in there for us, but we also had boys who weren’t up to the level they need to be in terms of putting the commitment into that jersey.
“That was something that hurt more than anything.
“We are representing our country and there were a couple of million people watching that game.
“When you represent your country, you have to leave everything out there on the pitch and go through some pain.
“We didn’t do that collectively last weekend.”
Outlining his message to the players after the game, he said: “I spoke at the hotel about us all taking responsibility and being accountable, looking in the mirror before you look out the window.
“As youngsters, you can tend to look for excuses, but just look in the mirror.
“If we all do that we can all get better. Everyone can improve.
“It doesn’t matter how good the coaches are, you can’t improve someone if they don’t look in the mirror.
“That’s first and foremost what I asked the boys to address. Then we can help them improve individually and collectively as a team.”
As for the detailed debrief, there were some key areas of concern.
“The first thing we put up in our review was 18 penalties conceded,” said Hayward.
“It’s costing the team because it’s impossible to win a game of rugby when you give that many penalties away.
“It led to us having just 38 per cent possession and you are not winning a game of rugby on that.
“Some of it is certain individuals giving a lot of penalties away.
“With the ball, we created opportunities. We had eight line breaks in the game, but we just weren’t clinical, whereas they were very clinical.”
Now, next up, it’s the Scots.
“There will be changes because there is a standard required in terms of effort and commitment,” said the head coach.
“Mistakes we can live with and we take the nerves on board.
“But, in terms of effort and commitment, there will be changes made.
“We need to put some pride back into that jersey.”
Hayward hasn’t absolved himself from blame in terms of the build-up to the Musgrave Park clash.
“I look at myself and reflect and I probably could have helped the younger boys by trying to give them some information regarding what to expect in Cork with an 8,000 crowd,” he said.
“Most of the boys have only ever played in front of a few hundred people in the Premiership.
“You could see it visibly in people’s faces. As the crowd came in during the warm-up, you could see the nerves kick in.
“It’s just something they have to go through as young men.
“Unfortunately, it was on a very big stage on TV in a Six Nations match.
“It was the first time a lot of these boys have been anywhere near that sort of pressure and it was visible to tell.
“We had two warm-up games against Premiership teams, but it’s so far off the standard required in the professional game.
“With a lot of boys that played on Friday, it was their first proper competitive game since November.
“We do have to take that into account.”
With the senior side having also been well beaten - a 29-7 defeat at the Aviva Stadium - there has been much gloomy talk about the state of the game in Wales over the past few days.
Giving his thoughts on that, Hayward said: “If you just go on that one weekend, it does look like Welsh rugby is not in a good place, right from age grade level through to senior level.
“But it is one game at the moment.
“I think the question will be more pertinent at the end of the Six Nations when it’s all done.”
Hayward was also asked if the disappointing international results pointed to problems in terms of the player pathway in Wales.
“I don’t have a concern regarding talent coming through,” he said.
“I don’t believe there is a lack of it.
“The question is how we nurture that talent and get it to realise its potential.
“You’ve got some boys in the U20s programme who aren’t quite good enough to go straight into regional teams.
“There is a gap there where they are not playing enough rugby and end up holding tackle bags in training a lot of the time.
“I saw it myself when I was at the Scarlets.
“Maybe we need some kind of competition that bridges the gap between the semi-pro Premiership - which is nowhere near the standard of professional rugby - and the regions.
“Something in the middle there, similar to what they have in England with the A league, which is a good high standard.
“Something like that would definitely help bridge the gap, so players who come through with lots of potential can progress with their development.”
The U20s now face a Scotland side who will also be out to get back on track after losing 41-24 to England in a ten-try thriller up in Edinburgh.
Wales go into the game with a couple of injury issues up front, including skipper Alex Mann, who put in a big shift on the blindside in Cork.
Looking ahead to the challenge presented by the Scots, Hayward said: “They are a big side and they were very physical against England and that’s something we weren’t against Ireland. We were clearly off it.
“But do we dwell on the negative side of things and get down after one game or do we roll our sleeves up and look forward to a game on Friday night?
“That’s what’s great about rugby. You get an opportunity in a short space of time to put things right.”
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