Jonathan Davies had told his Wales teammates they must work as hard without the ball as they do when it is in their hands if they are to revive their flagging Six Nations campaign.
The holders’ hopes of a successful title defence all but evaporated after a 23-19 defeat by England at Twickenham last weekend.
Wales, however, gave themselves a mountain to climb in falling 17-0 behind early in the second half only to stage an impressive rally that saw them score three tries.
Defeat left them fifth in the table, with just one win from their opening three games, and now Wayne Pivac’s side face an arguably even tougher task against Six Nations leaders France, bidding for a first Grand Slam since 2010, in Cardiff on 11 March.
France have been in superb form in this year’s Six Nations, but experienced centre Davies believes Wales can impose their own attacking game on Les Bleus if they are prepared to work at “stuff that people don’t really want to do”.
“We did some good stuff, but inevitably, it is a results-based game and we didn’t get the result in the end,” the 33-year-old said.
Wales have two dangerous wings in Josh Adams and Alex Cuthbert, but Davies said much work had to be done to ensure they were supplied with good-quality ball for the whole duration of a match.
“The ability we have when we have players on the ball is important and there is a lot that goes into making sure that you can play like that,” he explained. “We had value on those fundamentals in the game on Saturday when we wanted to, but it is making sure that we have that for the full 80 minutes.
“You have got to maintain the ball and keep it for longer periods of time if you are going to play with it more…Sometimes it is the stuff that people don’t really want to do.”
Davies won his 100th Test cap when coming on as a replacement during the closing stages of a 20-17 win at home to Scotland last month.
The British and Irish Lions midfielder was on the bench again at Twickenham, with Wales coach Pivac opting for Owen Watkin and Nick Tompkins as his starting duo in midfield.
“It is new territory,” said Davies. “I would love to be playing more, but it is whatever is best for the team and helping the boys prepare.”
© Agence France-Presse
