Warren Gatland is five games into his second reign as Wales head coach and he will be acutely aware of the size of the task facing him if he is to turn around fortunes in time for the World Cup.
This Six Nations would have been a painful experience for a coach who is more akin to lifting silverware than battling to avoid the Wooden Spoon, but nevertheless this championship has served as an important building block ahead of rugby's showpiece event in six months time.
Some of the painful defeats will have outlined to Gatland which players are up to it and which aren't, while also underlining the areas where Wales are in desperate need of improvement if they are to stand any chance of making their mark in the tournament.
