Wales got their Six Nations back on track with a thumping 65-34 triumph over Scotland, but one man was not satisfied.
Hodges has watched his men concede 72 points in their last two matches. And he has warned the squad they will have to sharpen their defensive skills if they are to win a place in the World Rugby U20 Championship at the end of the season.
He said: “We’re on a bit of a learning journey with this group, the education knowledge with defence is pretty minimal when you bring 20 new players into the squad. Over the last four years we’ve conceded 18 points a game on average, and we’ve gone away from that and it’s something we need to prioritise.
“We had a fairly fraught meeting with the players and a few individuals have some questions they need to answer. It’s something we can easily sort out, we didn’t concede in the first 35 minutes against England and Scotland, but it’s about having the ability to maintain those levels of performance for 80 minutes.”
Ireland will arrive in North Wales on the back of three straight victories at the beginning of their campaign. They scraped past Italy and Scotland by a point before beating France 27-22 last time out. But a win for Wales in front of their loyal Eirias Park following will get them right back in the mix for the title. And Hodges wants to see players impress in the final two rounds of the Under-20 Six Nations.
He said: “Some of our defensive sets during the Scotland game were the best seen all season but the two tries in the last few minutes made it look like a basketball score which we didn’t want.
“The bigger picture is the World Cup, we want to give opportunities to players so it makes our job of trimming down the squad really difficult.”
