Warren Gatland, the Wales coach, has told his players they will come fully to understand the meaning of the word pain this week as they go into the final weekend of the Six Nations looking to avoid the wooden spoon two years after they won the grand slam.
Defeats by England, France and Ireland mean Wales will finish in the bottom half of the table for the ninth time in the 11 years the Six Nations has been running and they will end up bottom if they lose to Italy in Cardiff on Saturday and Scotland win in Dublin. Sloppiness and indiscipline have been the main factors behind Wales's slump this year and Gatland, whose warning about the need to keep on the right side of the referee was lost on Lee Byrne, has had enough. The full-back's 10 minutes in the sin-bin saw Ireland score their first two tries and take a grip on the game at Croke Park.
"The players are going to experience some pain in training this week that they have probably not experienced before," said Gatland. "We have tried to be more player-led in the development of our game but it has not come on enough. They seem to respond best to hard work being led by the coaches. We are going to put them under real pressure in training this week and they will be punished if they make mistakes. Everyone is hurting but they have to go through more pain if we are to get the response we need."
Gatland has not been able to field his strongest team once this season with a number of Wales's Lions last summer, Gethin Jenkins, Mike Phillips, Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones, Leigh Halfpenny, Byrne and Matthew Rees missing at various times: Phillips has not played for Wales since last season's Six Nations but he is expected to return on Saturday along with Jenkins and Ryan Jones.
"We have been missing leaders," said Gatland. "We needed someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck and Lee's yellow card was particularly disappointing because we made a real issue of discipline after England. It was a costly action and he could have had a red card later for throwing the ball away but he will be considered for selection against Italy."
France, who are chasing the grand slam, have named an unchanged squad for the visit of England on Saturday to Paris, the city where the visitors' flanker James Haskell earns his living with Stade Français. The club's owner, Max Guazzini, said yesterday he was reporting the Rugby Football Union to the International Rugby Board for refusing to release Haskell for a club match earlier this month.
The England backs Ugo Monye and Jonny Wilkinson, who left the field against Scotland last weekend with head injuries, last night both declared themselves fit for the game. Charlie Hodgson has been called up as precautionary cover for Wilkinson and Simon Shaw may be fit to return after injuring his shoulder early in the game against Ireland.
