Humphreys Defends Wales Players

The former Wales hooker, recalled to captain the national side during the Six Nations after a four-year absence, put his full weight behind the current crop of stars.

And he is adamant that the latest defeats at the hands of the Wallabies and All Blacks are a result of the failings in Welsh rugby and not the players.

‘I think the criticism the boys have had from back home is unfair,’ said the veteran of 35 caps.

‘The players are a product of the system they come from and they have been let down because they just don’t get the intensity of games needed to make the jump from club to international level.

‘You should not expect players one week to play in club games where they are not even out of breath and then put them up against the likes of England, Australia or New Zealand the next and tell them that pride and passion alone is going to work – because it doesn’t.

‘We haven’t got the biggest team in the world so we need to concentrate on being quick, aggressive and inventive but it is hard to do that overnight. You need to do it every week.’

Bath hooker Humphreys has seen several of his young Welsh clubmates join the regional revolution this summer with Gavin Thomas, Gareth Cooper, Nathan Thomas and Andy Williams all crossing the Severn.

Humphreys added: ‘You have got to live and breathe intensive rugby and hopefully regional rugby will bring that.’