Warren Gatland and Robin McBryde have given a fascinating insight into their thoughts on members of the Wales squad and new head coach Wayne Pivac’s ambitious tactics.
Their comments have been broadcast during a RugbyPass behind the scenes documentary of the Barbarians in the build-up, during and after their 43-33 loss to Wales last month at the Principality Stadium.
Former Wales coach Gatland and his ex-forwards chief McBryde ran the rule over lock Jake Ball, back-rowers Justin Tipuric, Aaron Wainwright and Aaron Shingler, hooker Ken Owens and prop Wyn Jones.
During a team meeting, McBryde, who is now part of the coaching team at Leinster, told the Barbarians players what to expect from the Welsh stars, starting with Wyn Jones.
“He’s pretty accurate as a scrummager, pretty good over the ball defensively, got a pretty decent engine, not explosive,” he said. "Ken (Owens) is a pretty dynamic ball-carrier.
"Jake (Ball), his nickname is Jill, not Jake, says everything,” he laughed, before saying: “He’ll just f**king tuck and run hard."
Gatland added: "There won't be any footwork on him so he will carry."
McBryde continued: “Same from six Shingler, he’ll just run hard, he’ll challenge you physically. Tipuric, you all know him, great footballer.”
Gatland chipped in: “(Aaron) Wainwright at eight, he’s only been playing the game for about five years. He was in a football academy.
“He’s got a little bit of X-factor about him, he’s going to be special. He’s quick, got great footwork, intelligent, works hard.”
The former Wales head coach later told the documentary: "As the week's gone on, we're looking at the Welsh team and the Welsh players, individually highlighting some of the players' strengths and one or two weaknesses we might have an opportunity to exploit.
"That's just part of coaching and I hope everyone appreciates my role as the Barbarians coach is to go out there and do the best I can for the Barbarians."
As for the expansive tactics of his Wales successor Pivac, Gatland said: “They are just going to try and get on the outside.”
And he insisted: “If your line-speed is good enough, I guarantee you will never get beaten on the outside. The magic number is six defenders.”
