Dan Biggar has revealed the real turmoil that engulfed the Wales squad during the Six Nations, but believes they can put it behind them and shock their rivals at the Rugby World Cup.
Biggar admitted Wales' players were split as the threat of strike action overshadowed the build-up to the match against England earlier this year, saying "we couldn't agree on anything".
The veteran also says he felt "awkward" pushing his true opinions within the group as he knew the financial and contractual uncertainty in Welsh rugby didn't affect him.
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He does, however, believe Warren Gatland can turn around the national team's fortunes after a difficult start that saw them finish fifth in the Six Nations with one solitary win over Italy.
Speaking in a wide-ranging appearance on the Scrum V podcast, the former Wales captain gave his views on a turbulent season, which also saw Wayne Pivac dismissed before Christmas after a devastating autumn that included a shock home defeat to Georgia.
On the Six Nations week that saw Wales' players split, he said: "I felt a bit awkward. I felt I knew what the right thing to do was and wanted to pass on my experience and knowledge but I didn't know whether my opinion would be valid because it would never affect me. Even though I like to think my opinion holds some value in the squad I didn't know whether people would be saying 'your opinion doesn't really matter because it doesn't affect you'.
"But the way I flipped that was that it affects everybody in Wales. It's going to be for the next generation, 16 and 17-year-olds coming through.
"It was a difficult week because we couldn't really agree on anything. It ended up being a bit of a nothing event. From everything that was talked about at the start of the week it ended up petering out, didn't it?
"I think, ultimately, boys had to do what was right for them. But I do think the week was extremely challenging. I remember coming home and I was absolutely exhausted from the amount of meetings, conversations and thinking we had to do. That probably told a bit in how the game was. I remember sitting on the bench thinking how flat it was. It didn't feel like a Wales-England game at all.
"Everyone was in a different position and it's not for me to say what is right for an individual. There may have been boys there who wanted to do something different but felt pressured by somebody else or other things going on. It was a really emotionally draining week. That's why it helped to get out (when the squad went to France and Italy) of the pressure cooker. The Vale had become associated with that week.
"Who knows whether it was the right decision. Only time will tell with that."
When it was put to him that the players' demands were met to a certain degree, Biggar said: "Possibly, but maybe somebody like Joe Hawkins would say it wasn't met as he is now ineligible.
"The last year has been mad and unprecedented. Even speaking to boys back home now, some of the calibre of players who have not got contracts so far is unheard of. If those boys can't get contracts, you can see where the game is at."
The Wales squad are due to meet up again from May 25, ahead of a gruelling summer that will see them take part in training camps in Switzerland and Turkey before the World Cup in France. And Biggar believes they can sneak under the radar to cause a shock.
"Nobody is going to be talking about us for the World Cup so we can just get out of the country and away from the pressure cooker of Wales, work hard and try and spring a few surprises come September and October," said Biggar.
"We are under the radar but that's probably where we like to be. We probably don't enjoy having that favourites tag of the expectation on us. That is strange because we are a country that has had success as well.
"We are different if you compare this to four years ago and you can tell this after we picked a squad of 54 players compared to 42 last time around.
"I am quietly confident if we get our head down and the more time we spend together we always improve.
"That's why we have always done fairly well at World Cups because we have had almost like a club pre-season together.
"Gats has promised it will be a pretty gruelling few weeks in Switzerland and Turkey and put us in good stead over the last couple of World Cups."
As for the future, Biggar is expected to leave the international stage following the World Cup, but he is not committing to that just yet.
"I don't know, we will see what happens," said Biggar.
"We have got a great life down here [in France] but what the match day experience gives you, the buzz of playing for Wales, is something that will never be replicated. We will see how the World Cup goes."
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