The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
McBryde tells Wales to back-up Ireland performance in Paris
Robin McBryde has urged Wales to back-up the quality of their RBS 6 Nations display against Ireland with another strong performance in Paris on Saturday.
And if Wales can record a sixth successive victory over Les Bleus, it could see them reach new heights of a world top-four ranking.
Such a feat – it also depends on Six Nations champions England beating Ireland in Dublin during the weekend’s final round of fixtures – would secure Wales a top tier seeding ahead of May’s 2019 World Cup draw in Japan.
They are also chasing runners-up spot in the Six Nations behind England, with Wales heading to the Stade de France following their biggest win against Ireland since 1983.
“That is what good teams do, they back things up, they back performances up with another good performance,” Wales assistant coach McBryde said.
“We haven’t seen that in this campaign, and this is the last chance for us to be able to do that. So hopefully we can match that (Ireland) performance.
“Albeit we are playing away from home – the surroundings are not as familiar as the Principality Stadium – but that’s the challenge, and hopefully we can meet it head-on on Saturday.
“The Six Nations is all about performance, irrespective whether you are in the hunt for the title or not.
“We’ve just got to back up that performance against Ireland with another good performance against France. We’ve got to prove it to ourselves that we can do it.
“That level of performance has got to be there, and that is the challenge that is going to be set to whoever is wearing the red shirt on Saturday.”
Wales have won all five Tests against France since Les Bleus beat them 9-8 in the 2011 World Cup semi-finals.
But McBryde added: “We’ve only found out recently with the loss to Scotland (Wales had beaten Scotland nine times in succession) that those records don’t stand for anything. It’s all on the day. We are more than aware of what can happen if you read too much into it and listen to the record books.
“We know they are a very big, physical team, and if some of their off-loads stick early on, the crowd gets behind them and they just grow an extra arm and a leg then.”