“That looks like a team shot of belief and confidence.” Sam Warburton, who was leading Wales to Six Nations titles and grand slams not so long ago, was similarly downbeat as he sifted through the ashes of the defeat against Italy in Rome on Saturday.
“There were times in that second half when I thought it was the most depressing and hopeless performance that I’ve seen from Wales,” said Gwyn Jones, another frustrated ex-Welsh skipper, on the BBC’s Scrum V. At this point those with long memories will shake their heads sorrowfully and suggest alternative occasions when Wales have arguably been at a lower ebb.
Nor the volume of potential interest it would generate in Portugal, Spain and across the rest of Europe if the Six Nations were to become a Seven Nations army, with one up and down each year.
Georgia are transparently too good for the shadow Rugby Europe Championship, Portugal played some fabulous rugby at the last World Cup and Spain have also just qualified automatically for the 2027 tournament.
Defeats in Kitakyushu and Kobe could result in Wales dropping out of the world’s top dozen sides, condemning them to a potentially fiendish draw at the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
