Welsh are woeful - Campese

There would have been time when the last thing a Wales coach needed to say in the build-up to a Test match, never mind a crucial World Cup showdown, was that his side needed to match the passion of the opposition.

But Steve Hansen is in charge of a squad who stand accused of not playing with the heart and spirit which was the cornerstone of Welsh rugby’s halcyon days in the 1970s.

The latest man to wade into the argument is David Campese, who today claimed that Welsh players had been taking their pay packets “under false pretences” and that they had no chance of beating the Italians tomorrow.

Azzurri coach John Kirwan, whose side have not had time for a training run since their bruising victory over Canada, insisted Italy will be relying on passion to get them through.

Meanwhile, Hansen declared Italy to be favourites for the game and stated: “We’ve got to make sure that we meet the Italian passion and go forward in everything we do.”

But Campese, who played club rugby in Italy, believes desire will prove the difference at the Canberra Stadium tomorrow – where the two sides effectively meet for a place in the last eight of the World Cup.

“Welsh rugby has never been so woeful and could sink to even greater depths tomorrow night in Canberra,” he wrote in the Sydney Daily Telegraph.

“It is a once proud rugby nation which produced so many great players in the 1970s but has been struggling for more than a decade.

“The Welsh people love their rugby but unfortunately it seems the Welsh players have lacked the same passion.

“You get the impression that Welsh players have been happy to pick up the pay almost on false pretences.

“Steve Hansen is bringing on a few young guys – but that will take time and they don’t have that on their side.

“Italy beat them in the Six Nations and I think they will do it again. I was amazed at the lack of composure the Welsh showed towards the end of their match against Tonga.

“They were battling to control possession and play the game in the Tongan half and that is not a good sign if Wales have any designs on going further in this competition.”

Wales winger Gareth Thomas admitted yesterday that it was time to restore the pride in Welsh rugby after a year in which they were beaten by Italy en route to finishing bottom of the Six Nations.

Lock Robert Sidoli, whose father is Italian, insisted that confidence in the camp is high, that the spirit is good and stated the desire for pride-restoring revenge over the Azzurri will drive them on to victory.

“The boys in the squad are very optimistic. They do believe in what we are training for and that will bring good things in the future,” he said.

“I just look at it as the fact that Italy beat us in the Six Nations so we owe them a game.”

Sidoli dismissed claims the Wales pack lacked the necessary aggression to compete with Italy.

“We certainly want to clean out the ball quicker and we are looking to hit people,” he said.

“We are not looking to prove anything, but what comes at us we will meet, and better, and put in a good performance.”

Italy’s pack were in dominant form against Canada, particularly before losing Marco Bortolami with a dislocated shoulder, and Wales captain Colin Charvis is aware just how important the forwards battle will be.

“They are a very good back row,” he said.

“They are very good at stealing the ball on the ground, they get a lot of turnovers there and work well in the tackle area.

“Our back row as a unit have to match that and work as hard as we can to see if we can win some ball off them because there is a lot of talent in our backs.

“Iestyn has showed he is a world class number 12 now, so it will be entertaining to see him run.

“But the crux of it is seeing the forwards perform well and win enough ball to set the backs free.”