Wales U20s coach slams players' commitment and physical condition in brutally honest press conference

You certainly couldn’t accuse Wales U20s coach Byron Hayward of pulling any punches over his team’s thumping defeat to Ireland.

The former fly-half has been brutally honest in his verdict on the 53-5 hammering they suffered in their Six Nations opener out in Cork.

He says some players simply didn’t work as hard as they should have during the Covid lockdown and are “a million miles” off where they need to be physically as a result.

Hayward has also questioned some individuals’ commitment and effort in the Welsh jersey and has called on them to look in the mirror.

He has said there will now be changes to the team for Friday night’s second Championship match against Scotland at Colwyn Bay’s Parc Eirias.

“We have players who are definitely ready for it physically and we have some, as you saw last weekend, who were a million miles off it,” said the former Wales defence coach.

“I don’t think the Covid situation has helped, but then that comes back down to the individual.

“It was no different for the Irish team or the other sides. We’ve all had Covid.

“The question I have asked of the boys is when we were all in lockdown were you having six months sat in the house doing nothing or were you having six months working on your conditioning?

“I think it’s clear we have boys who maybe haven’t worked as hard as they should have to make those physical gains.”

Asked whether he had made it clear to certain players that they had a lot of catching up to do, he said: “Yes, in one word.

“They have been made aware they need to up the standard to play at this level.

“It might sound harsh, but we are not doing our jobs if we don’t. We have to do that.

“We are here to represent our country, all of us, we have a job to do and we didn’t represent