RUGBY coaches may not be in the Donald Trump league for glossing over truths in press conferences, but Wales forwards coach Robin McBryde was clearly wrestling with some alternative facts this week.
Everyone is a tough opponent who needs to be respected, injuries are rarely as bad as they seem, everywhere is a difficult place to go.
Coaches are always looking for an edge and telling the truth rarely provides it.
So at the Wales team hotel outside Cardiff last week, McBryde was faced with a dilemma when asked directly if Wales plan to exploit the Scotland scrum weakness at Murrayfield: how to deal with the question without launching fully into “fake news”.
There is an added factor to consider, in that McBryde and Scotland forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys were rivals for the Wales hooker’s jersey for 11 years (35 caps for Humphreys, 37 for McBryde from 1994 to 2005). That rivalry may no longer burn so fiercely, but both would still both love to get one over the other, and in all the planning for a game Wales need to win after a late defeat at home to England, McBryde will have one big weapon at his disposal.
Wales have a scrum which has functioned solidly enough in the Six Nations; Scotland’s scrum has conceded a series of penalties against both Ireland and France.
So this was McBryde’s answer when asked directly if Wales would be targeting the scrum next weekend: “Again it is down to referee’s interpretation, I think it is impossible to get a consistency across the board as much as they are trying.
“A lot of it will rest on the referee’s interpretation and all we can focus on is doing our work as well as possible. John Lacey is an outstanding referee so hopefully it will not be an issue. It has not been an issue in our first two games, albeit I felt we were on the wrong side of a couple of decisions on Saturday.
“I think overall in both of our games against Italy and England there has been a willingness to get out there and play rugby and that will be the case again against Scotland.
“Hopefully we will see the same type of performance, the same type of game, one that pleases the crowd and makes them want to watch us again.”
Journalists like to ask the same question in different ways if they do not get an answer, so the follow up was along similar lines.
“They will be ready for us,” he said. “It is normally a fast game, the breakdown is a keenly contested one, all their back row are very effective on and over the ball. They have always got one or two things up their sleeve regards to line-out time – we saw that against Ireland.
“So they will be working on one or two things, I think they will be heartened by things in the first two matches as we are, so it is all to play for.”
So another go was required. If he wouldn’t talk about targeting the Scots props, how does he feel his own front rowers have fared?
“We’re really pleased with all four, really pleased with the starting pair against England [Rob Evans and Tomas Francis] despite what I felt were a harsh couple of calls, really pleased with Samson [Lee] and Nicky [Smith] when they came on as well,” he replied, on happier ground.
“They got around in the loose so we know we can rely on those four. It is good competition, all of them have had an opportunity and I think we are starting to pencil in some names sooner rather than later.”
At which point bored of the scrum, the journalists looked to probe other areas.
Contrast that with Wales lock Jake Ball, who was more than happy to talk about being up against the Gray brothers and also potentially Scarlets colleague Johnny Barclay in the back row – head injury assessment permitting.
His verdict on the Gray brothers: “Both are great players, they contribute all round the park – line-outs, tackles, carries – and they work well as a combination as well, so it will be an exciting opportunity to play against them if selected.”
While on Barclay he added: “I think he is obviously a massive asset to them, very experienced, including over the ball, a great work rate, a tough competitor, it would be great to play against him as well.”
Equally kicking coach Neil Jenkins was happy to discuss how Stuart Hogg’s form at full-back would affect their strategy, especially as the late defeat against England was the result of a loose kick.
In fact Wales were perfectly happy to discuss any Scottish strength. Just do not mention the Scotland scrum in public. Behind closed doors, though, it will be a different story.
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