McBryde insists confidence is high

Robin McBryde insists Welsh confidence is still riding high ahead of Sunday’s clash with France despite their drubbing in Ireland. The British Lions hooker will beef up the Wales front row in the wake of their devastating defeat at Lansdowne Road.
 
McBryde missed the trip to Dublin where Wales were brought crashing back to earth from their Rugby World Cup euphoria by Ireland’s rejuvenated pack, but that has not dented hopes of pulling off a major shock against the France on Sunday.
 
“We haven’t got bogged down with the defeat against Ireland,” said McBryde. “One thing we have been made aware of by Steve Hansen is not to get fazed by the pressure from the media for success. We must just stay focused on playing as well as we can and then results will follow.
 
“We don’t want to sway from one end of the spectrum to the other. No one was more disappointed by the result and the performance in Ireland than the players. Sometimes in rugby things just don’t go right but we’ve identified the reasons for that and there is still plenty of games left in this Championship.

“Ireland was not so much a wake up call but highlighted areas that we needed to focus on if we want to play the type of open game we have been. We want to throw the ball around and play an expansive game but we have got to be ready for teams who want to stop us.

“Fair play to Ireland they targeted our rucks and really slowed our ball down but we have got to come up with other ways of playing. France will probably be an even tougher test, especially up front. They are a very physical side.”