Jonathan Humphreys says nobody needs to underline the importance of Saturday’s Round 2 clash against Italy in Rome in the Guinness Six Nations to any of the players or coaches in the Welsh squad.
But the former Wales captain, nowadays the Wales forwards coach, believes that every game is equally important.
“Every single game in international rugby goes down in history. The pressure doesn’t make you perform better, it’s about being clear in what we want to do and achieve,” said Humphreys from the Wales training base in Nice."
“It’s about the process we put in place, how every single minute matters, how we execute the management of our game. We can’t concentrate on it being a massive game."
“France was a massive game. So are the ones against Ireland, Scotland and England – all of them will be written down in history."
“Italy are a top-quality side. They are very physical and extremely physical in the contact area."
“We understand who they are and how they want to play, and they have danger men all over the place."
“When you are in a situation like we are, it’s easy to talk about a game being ‘must-win’. We know all that, it’s about trying to get the players to focus on what we can control."
“We can’t control the press and what is said about us. All we can do is find something that we are going after, that we are hanging our hat on, something we can improve on from the last game."
“That’s the only thing we can control that will actually help us. Our execution has to improve, and we have to make sure we manage the game.”
There is encouraging news on the fitness of back row men Taulupe Faletau, who missed the 43-0 defeat against the French in Paris last weekend, and Aaron Wainwright, who left the field at Stade de France after only four minutes with a bad cut to the face.
But Ospreys centre Owen Watkin has been ruled out of contention this weekend following a knee injury he sustained in the first half in the French capital.
“It was a bad gash to have” added Humphreys of Wainwright, “but it’s not a fracture."
“Training will be a key indicator of whether he and Taulupe will be available to us. We are pretty hopeful on the pair of them.”
