To Jonathan Davies’ mind, rugby remains a simple game and further evidence of that was provided by Wales’ heavy defeat to New Zealand.
Davies - the man known as Jiffy - puts the 55-23 thumping at the Principality Stadium down to the basics of the sport.
“Everyone says the game has changed, but it hasn’t. The preparation has changed and the analysis has changed,” said the former fly-half.
“But, ultimately, the fundamental thing is you go forward, you go forward, you go forward. If you don’t you are going to struggle.
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“Rugby is a simple game and needs to be done well. You can talk to players who finished years ago and players who have just finished now. We all sit down and have a beer and a chat and analyse games and that what it is all about - going forward.”
As such, Davies finds himself very concerned over Wales’ inability to do just that against the All Blacks.
“Having looked at all the autumn games so far, you really notice the lack of ball carrying from our forwards and how immobile they were,” he said.
“The other teams all seem to have good strong ball carriers from front row to back row.
“If Ken Owens wasn’t there, my God, I don’t know who would have carried for us.
“We needed to get ball into our dangerous players’ hands but we don’t have the go forward to go wide a lot. It’s very difficult to get the ball out wide because we are going backwards when we are going through the phases. It’s kind of a Catch 22.
“You have to get on the front foot to go wide, but how do you do that?”
Davies continued: “The quicker the ruck or phase play is, the more chance you’ve got of breaking the gainline. If it’s slowed down, you have got no chance because teams don’t commit to rucks and mauls. If you get quick ball and people are not back in their defensive line, you can attack them again. If it’s slow ball and they are all standing up there waiting for you, you are running into a massive brick wall.
“Then if you are not getting over the gainline, it’s just a matter of time before you have to box-kick or put in up and under up.
“It is a big problem. I don’t know who he (Wayne Pivac) is going to get to give him go-forward.
“Rhys Carre is carrying well for Cardiff, but Pivac says he hasn’t met conditioning targets, so he is not in the squad. Nor is Ross Moriarty, who is someone else who carries well. With the lack of ball carriers in the front five, I don’t know if you can carry two openside flankers, but who is the big carrying No 6 to come in? Maybe he goes for Christ Tshiunza who does offer size.
“They are in a bit of a quandary because ball carrying is all about trying to get yardage. It’s an attitude of mind sometimes.”
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Davies believes Wales may need to take a different approach to address their issues in terms of getting go-forward.
“If you can’t smash through people, you have got to find other ways of crossing the gainline. It’s a necessity. Sometimes you have just got to be a bit cuter,” he said.
“It’s not rocket science. You watch NFL football and NRL rugby and if you are not the biggest strongest ball carrier, you can’t go bashing into people. What you’ve got to do is have quick feet and attack the arm rather than the shoulder.
“You have got to carry with supporting runners either side of you so you can take defenders off the ball carrier. Then you have the chance of getting over the post-tackle gainline.
“Either that or you’ve got to do tip-off passing like the Irish and English props do.
“Watch Tadhg Furlong play. He’s a big ball carrier, but he’s not dull. He attracts defenders and then he pops a pass. Our forwards don’t look as comfortable with ball in hand.”
What Davies says was really stark was the contrast in ball carrying effectiveness between the two sides in Cardiff on the weekend.
“The worrying thing was the way New Zealand carried the ball. Once they got into our 22, you felt they were going to score a try,” he says.
So was that down to them having better carriers or Wales being poor in defence?
“I think it’s a bit of both,” replies the former dual code star.
“You’ve got to be aggressive in your ball-carrying because it’s all about post-contact now. It’s so important and that’s where we are struggling because we haven’t got natural ball carriers.
“We also struggled in the scrum a little bit. We got beaten there and we got physically dominated when ball-carrying. It’s the same thing happens at regional level. We get bashed up and don’t go forward.”
Davies also has concerns over the nature of some of the eight tries Wales conceded as New Zealand posted a record score in Cardiff.
“There were missed tackles, then you have Aaron Smith running at a dog-leg defence and breaking through. He just spotted it, stepped and went and you are thinking that’s too easy.
“Also Ardie Savea threw a ridiculous dummy. The only job you have as a pillar is to make the first-man tackle, but he buys the dummy and then they score.
“So if you look at it, they were human errors. That’s the disappointment. A lot of those tries could have been avoided.”
Looking at the way the contest progressed as a whole, Davies added: “From 17-0 down, we did get back into the game, but the unfortunate thing was every time we scored we messed up or exits which gave them field position again and if you do that eventually they are going to come away with something.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep it to one score and then once they went two scores ahead, you could see it was going to be Harlem Globetrotters to get 50.
“With the mistakes, on the back of no go-forward and scrummaging issues, it’s very, very difficult then.
“In a nutshell, Wales have to eradicate the individual errors and get their exit plans working well. But the big, big thing is they have got to work out how they are going to get over that gainline.”
Seasoned broadcaster and pundit Davies admits he is worried about the options available to Pivac in terms of strength in depth.
“There is not loads of people coming through to take people’s places,” he said.
“The system is not developing players that are capable of putting pressure on the current incumbents.
“If you look at the regions, there doesn’t seem to be a footballing 12 or an attacking full-back and who are the big No 6 ball carriers?
“We have got a 35-year-old fly-half at the moment. It’s very difficult to see who is pushing to come through.
“We need an attacking full-back but, for the life of me, apart from Liam Williams, who hasn’t played many games for club or country the last couple of years, you are thinking the cupboard is bare.
“We haven’t got the full-backs at the regions to come in. Leigh Halfpenny has been out for a year, he has a couple of games, he’s straight back in.
“Do you put Josh Adams or Louis Rees-Zammit at full-back but then do you potentially lose something on the wing?
“If they go for a safe and steady 15, why can’t they change and put a winger as an attacking full-back when they have got the ball?”
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Next up for Wales are Michael Cheika’s Argentina, who will head for the Principality Stadium on the back of beating England 30-29 at Twickenham.
“I texted Cheika after their game and said ‘You must be favourites coming into Cardiff’. He said ‘Wash your mouth out with soap, you!’.
“But they are ranked sixth, we are ninth. They are playing at a higher level regularly, they are higher ranked than us in the world, they have come off the back of beating England at Twickenham, so I would clearly say they are the favourites.
“Wales have got home advantage, which helps a little bit, but if you look at last weekend’s performances, Argentina go in as favourites to Cardiff and that would be the first time.
“They will look at our weaknesses and our weaknesses are their strengths. If they get into our 22, they will think they can bash us over. They will do the video analysis and if they think they can replicate what New Zealand did they will do that.
“Cheika is a clever coach. I like him. He speaks his mind and says it as it is.
“He’s enjoyed the last couple of months because he’s been doing both rugby league and rugby union. He’s enjoyed representing his national heritage, coaching Lebanon at the World Cup, and then he goes back in to do Argentina and they win at Twickenham. I can imagine he will be coming looking forward to Cardiff.
“Wales have got to really, really front up because the Pumas will have their tails up. This week is going to be really tough. It is going to be a real test this Saturday.”
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