'It's easy to play rugby from your couch!' Wales U20s captain hits back after colossal performance

Wales U20s skipper Alex Mann says jibes about the team being soft drove them on to prove people wrong by beating Scotland.

Mann’s side had come in for heavy flak after being thumped 53-5 by Ireland in last week’s Six Nations opener out in Cork.

In particular, critics had pointed to the gulf in physicality between the two sides.

The strongest criticism of all actually came from coach Byron Hayward, who ripped up the team after questioning the commitment and physical condition of some players.

But the Welsh youngsters delivered the perfect response by claiming a 26-13 bonus point victory over Scotland at Colwyn Bay, with their captain leading by example with a try-scoring man of the match display from No 8. You can read the full report here.

“I really enjoyed it because we have been called soft all week and not up to it,” Mann told GTFM radio.

“It’s easy to play rugby from your couch.

“We have proved a lot of people wrong.

“I was really proud of the effort from the boys. It’s been a really tough week, it had tested our character.

“We were disappointed in what we did out in Ireland. That wasn’t good enough.

“The frustrating bit is we knew we were much better than that.

“We had to be harsh on ourselves, look at our own games and show how much the shirt means to us.

“We focused on how we could put the wrongs right.

“We spoke all week about how we needed a reaction and that’s certainly what we did.

“The boys took the performance last week to heart and switched on. It shows what we can do.

“People are always going to have an opinion, but we just needed to look at ourselves, get better and prove a point.”

Cardiff back rower Mann scored the first of Wales’s four tries in an incredible personal performance as they came from