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Matthew Southcombe

Jonathan 'Jiffy' Davies calls out WRU for 'failing' players in live TV tirade

Welsh rugby legend Jonathan Davies has slammed the Welsh Rugby Union for how the game is being managed here in Wales.

Issues around the pro game came to a head last week as the under-20s and senior men's sides got thrashed out in Ireland.

That came hot on the heels of the regions' failure to get a side into the knockout stages of the European Champions Cup this year.

Apathy towards the game had been rife but it was lifted a little when a weakened Cardiff side beat a weakened Leinster the week before the Six Nations.

And former fly-half 'Jiffy' was not about to allow Wales' 20-17 victory over Scotland to paper over the cracks in the game.

You can read the latest headlines and fallout from the Wales game here.

Speaking on Scrum V, he took aim at the Union for the way young players are being managed, accused them of a lack of leadership and criticised the length of time it has taken for them to refinance the £20 million loan they took out to cover the shortfall in their payments to the regions during the pandemic.

When asked if the victory over Scotland means all else is forgotten, Davies came off a long run up.

"No you don't. There are players coming through but, for me, we didn't have cover for a wing yesterday," he said.

"Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny have been full-backs for [Wales] for the last 10 years. Nobody coming through.

"I think it's now time for the WRU to show some leadership, to have a strategy and a system of what's going to happen in the game.

"There has been a lack of leadership from the Union. The performance department - nobody has heard anything about them.

"I think we're failing the youngsters coming through. We need more age-grade coaches, we need more professional coaches and that comes from the WRU.

"They ought to have a vision, direction and strong leadership from the Union.

"With the Premiership at the moment, what is the purpose of the Premiership? Is it development? We've been having these questions for over a decade."

Attempting to add a bit of balance, the presenter put to Davies that Covid had not helped things.

His retort came back without barely taking a breath.

"No, Covid hasn't helped but they've done it Ireland and England. So you can't blame Covid for everything can you?" he said.

"'We haven't done this because of Covid', well other countries have.

"Again, the Union, all of a sudden there's this £5 million loan whereas the Government helped English rugby. They're always talking about finances.

"We need leadership, we need player monitoring, we need to help our youngsters with competitions and strategies, consistency of training.

"Help them through, because if you do that, you'll see more players coming through. It creates a stronger region because we need to pin everything under the region.

"When Josh [Navidi] comes back, he wants somebody right up his backside, pushing him. Because all the best sides in the world have competition.

"If you don't play well one week, in Wales, maybe you play next week. In other countries, you won't be playing next week because there is someone right up your backside trying to get your place."

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In an attempt to move the show on, Scrum V's presenter said: "Right then, there's nobody here from the Union to defend themselves..."

And in a parting shot, Davies interjected: "Well they can come out and say something!"

As the camera panned back to Davies one final time, the grin on his face suggested he'd gotten what he wanted of his chest, despite some claiming he had been cut off early.

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