Wales seek 'clarity' over scrums

Wales assistant coach and forwards specialist Robin McBryde said he is "concerned" that the reigning Six Nations champions fell foul of Frenchman Poite during a game that title-chasing England won 29-18.

It culminated in Wales prop Gethin Jenkins being sin-binned for the second successive game due to scrum issues.

" I am not concerned with the scrum. I am concerned that we have obviously fallen the wrong side of Romain Poite." McBryde said.

"As far as I see it, it was a hugely-competitive area of the game. There was only one re-set (scrum).

"We were quite dominant on a couple of scrums, and I felt we should have benefited from the decision.

"The unfortunate thing is that one man has been singled out, and everyone could see the dejection on Gethin's face when he came off as to regards he didn't know what else he could have done.

"I will be sending an email to both Romain and Joel for clarity, because it is important in how we move forward, learn the lessons and let's make sure we are looking at the same things that Joel is looking at.

"We were dominant, we were going forward in a number of those scrums, yet the decision went against us.

"Certain players are highlighted, and their name has been bandied about with regards to what referees should be looking at. I don't necessarily agree with that because each scrum is different.

"You can't go into a game with a pre-conceived idea, and I hope that wasn't the case on Sunday.

"It is just something we have got to get better at doing in managing the referee and making sure we have got absolute clarity with regards to what he is looking at.

"Scrum, lineout, contact area, those are the things that really you have got to be at your best, especially when you come up against a team who are gunning for you, as are all the teams.

"If you are champions, you know you are going to have to be at your best week in, week out, and unfortunately we haven't been."

Wales wind up their Six Nations campaign at home to Scotland next Saturday, with their hopes of achieving an unprecedented Six Nations title hat-trick now over.

While England, Ireland and outsiders France will go for silverware during the tournament's final weekend, Wales can only reflect on a disappointing campaign.

Wales boss Warren Gatland will name his team on Thursday, with full-back Leigh Halfpenny sidelined due to a dislocated shoulder, but scrum-half Rhys Webb (ankle) and lock Luke Charteris (neck) have not been ruled out of selection plans at this stage.

"We know where we've fallen down. We know where we weren't good enough," McBryde said.

"There was a big expectancy asked of us again against England. We didn't live up to it against Ireland (Wales lost 26-3), and we haven't lived up to it against England.

"That expectancy surely will have grown for our last home match against Scotland, and we can't shy away from it. We have got to answer a few questions, and you can only do that on the field.

"People (critics) have got enough to say, and there is plenty of room to say it.

"We can't get too bogged down in trying to control that. Well, we can't control it. All we can do is make sure we do our work as good as possible in order to finish on a high."