Edwards primes Wales mean machine

Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards hates losing and it riles him even more when a team hands their opponent the victory.

The Englishman knows that in Saturday's semi-final against France, the Welsh can ill afford to mirror the errors they made in recent losses to Les Bleus.

"We have harmed ourselves,'' the former Great Britain rugby league international said at a press conference on Tuesday, referring to recent losses to France.

"We have to make sure if France do get points against us, they have to earn them. That will be the focus going into this game. We do not want to hurt ourselves. If France work hard enough to get points, well maybe so. But obviously, defensively, we have to keep that to an absolute minimum."

Of the four teams heading into the semi-finals at Eden Park on Saturday and Sunday,

Wales have the meanest defence. In five matches, Wales has surrendered 44 points, while France has given up the most, 108.

Quality tacklers

Edwards said the key to defending was not complicated.

"There are a lot of things that build up to a defensive system. Understanding your roles, courage, fitness, there are a million different components. In the end, the thing that sticks out is the quality of our tacklers,'' he said.

"There is more emphasis as people realise how important defence is these days. When you have a back row like we have, it can't be much fun carrying the ball against them, put it that way."

Given Edwards' knowledge of his semi-final opponent, he was asked whether he thought the French penchant for being unpredictable would pose a problem for his squad.

"There is more structure in world rugby and it is in their game along with everybody else,'' he said. "Most teams play with set patterns, and I am sure their attacking coach will add different variations of certain formations and it will be up to me to second-guess what he is thinking."

Big stage

While Wales' dependence on their young players in key roles has been much discussed, Edwards feels they will benefit from not being part of recent losses to France.

"They do not have any past defeats and they don't bring any doubts in the head where we lost to them two or three years ago,'' he said. "We are on the big stage now and that is where we want to be."

The Welsh have been consistent on and off the field since RWC 2011 started on 9 September.

"What we have tried to do since the start of the competition is improve every game and this game will be no different. We have to bring that intensity again.

"All I can say is they have come together and in a short space of time they have improved rapidly. And it is not by accident that we have improved. It is down to hard work, strength of character, skill and a lot of work on the training part, what worked in the gym and what worked on the running track.

"People have talked a lot about the build-up and the tournament we have had and all of it is true. But it is just hard work."