Wales U20s skipper Alex Mann says jibes about the team being soft drove them on to prove people wrong by beating Scotland.
Mann’s side had come in for heavy flak after being thumped 53-5 by Ireland in last week’s Six Nations opener out in Cork.
In particular, critics had pointed to the gulf in physicality between the two sides.
The strongest criticism of all actually came from coach Byron Hayward, who ripped up the team after questioning the commitment and physical condition of some players.
But the Welsh youngsters delivered the perfect response by claiming a 26-13 bonus point victory over Scotland at Colwyn Bay, with their captain leading by example with a try-scoring man of the match display from No 8. You can read the full report here.
“I really enjoyed it because we have been called soft all week and not up to it,” Mann told GTFM radio.
“It’s easy to play rugby from your couch.
“We have proved a lot of people wrong.
“I was really proud of the effort from the boys. It’s been a really tough week, it had tested our character.
“We were disappointed in what we did out in Ireland. That wasn’t good enough.
“The frustrating bit is we knew we were much better than that.
“We had to be harsh on ourselves, look at our own games and show how much the shirt means to us.
“We focused on how we could put the wrongs right.
“We spoke all week about how we needed a reaction and that’s certainly what we did.
“The boys took the performance last week to heart and switched on. It shows what we can do.
“People are always going to have an opinion, but we just needed to look at ourselves, get better and prove a point.”
Cardiff back rower Mann scored the first of Wales’s four tries in an incredible personal performance as they came from 10-0 down, with centre Joe Hawkins, wing Harri Houston and 17-year-old sub Morgan Morris also crossing.
Head coach Hayward Hayward was full of praise for the way his much-changed team bounced back versus the Scots.
“I thought our boys were outstanding,” he said.
“The character they showed to come back from 10 points down is absolute testament to them and their maturity.
“I am just very happy for our boys after a tough week. I am really chuffed for them.
“We knew the performance was nowhere near where it needed to be last week.
“We just said we were all going to be honest and look in the mirror and see what we can do better.
“We made a few changes and chucked a couple of 17-year-olds in there and they stood up.”
Asked whether the team had proved people wrong, he replied: “Well, I guess if people wrote us off, we proved them wrong.
“You can’t dwell too much on what the public say.
“Of course, you want to please the public. We are a proud Welsh nation. These boys love wearing that jersey and they want to fill it.”
Next up for Wales will be a clash with England at Doncaster’s Castle Park on Friday, February 25 (7pm).
Having beaten Scotland 41-24 in their opening fixture up in Edinburgh, England went down to a shock 6-0 defeat to Italy in their Round Two match out in Treviso.
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