Search needs to start for powerful players, says Sam

SAM Warburton has delivered a reality check for Wales, saying they are not “physical enough” and that players need to be found from somewhere.

Wales suffered at the hands of French power on Sunday, with Fabien Galthie’s team proving way too strong in the final quarter as they steamrollered their way to a 45-24 success.

It was a clinical performance by the French, who arrived at the Principality Stadium on the back of just one win in their opening three Six Nations games. But they proved too much for Warren Gatland’s inexperienced side.

Speaking in his role as a BBC pundit, former Wales skipper Warburton (circled, above) said: “I’m going to sound like a broken record, but you can’t play the game and be that inferior physically.

“If you don’t have big skilled athletes on the field, when you have big guys coming at you and you can’t stop them, it is going to be a tough game.

“We don’t have the player pool to match the power of England,

Ireland and France and we need to find the players from somewhere.” He added: “The word power was used a lot in commentary and rightly so. You can talk a lot about the fluffy things, but when you lose the physical battle then more often than not you won’t win the game. “You saw the warning signs in the first half and Wales were holding on in the game when France’s big ball-carriers were come off the number nine.” Martin Johnson agreed, stressing that Wales’ players will have to recover from the defeat quickly. “The writing was on the wall before the subs were made,” said England’s World Cup-winning captain. “Wales were trying to stem that power and as the first half went on the power was starting to tell. “It was a really mature performance from France. Wales scored their best try at the start of the second half and then almost didn’t see the ball again. “They (Wales) have a heck of the spirit and I think they will come out battling next week.”