Wayne Pivac explains why he's fast-tracked Josh Navidi back into the Wales team as he looks to resolve breakdown issues

Wayne Pivac has outlined the crucial role Josh Navidi will have to play as Wales look to resolve their breakdown issues when they take on France.

That was a real problem area for Pivac’s team during their 23-19 defeat to England at Twickenham in the last round of the Six Nations.

It was there they conceded the majority of the 13 penalties awarded against them, enabling Marcus Smith to kick the points which ultimately proved decisive.

Now they are up against a French team that is absolutely lethal off turnover ball, so their breakdown work simply has to improve.

That’s a key reason why flanker Navidi has been fast-tracked into the side after just one outing for Cardiff, following five months out with a dislocated shoulder.

There are few players better in the game at clearing out on attacking ball than the 31-year-old, who also makes such an impact in the collisions.

So in he comes to start on the openside against Les Bleus at the Principality Stadium.

“We looked at the England game in our review, in terms of some of the errors we made and the penalties we gave away, particularly in that first half,” said head coach Pivac.

“We looked at the experience a guy like Josh brings and his decision-making in those areas of the game.

“He is close to 30 Tests now and was a big part of our success last year.

“To have a player like that available is great from our point of view and he has certainly trained well this week.

“He was a big part of the contact area last year and we’re hopeful he can supply some more of that this time around.

“France have got big men and put a lot of pressure on the breakdown. Shaun (Edwards) has got them working very, very hard at that area of the game and you can see across the park they’ve got threats