Amid the gloom of Wales’ 54-12 Six Nations defeat to France in Cardiff, former Wales captain Sam Warburton picked out Scarlets centre Eddie James as one of the shining lights.
Steve Tandy’s men were outclassed by a dominant Les Bleus side, who ran in eight tries in a record-breaking Championship victory on Welsh soil.
Five Scarlets featured for Wales – James, Joe Hawkins and Ellis Mee in the starting line-up, with Taine Plumtree and Ryan Elias coming off the bench.
And it was 23-year-old Carmarthen product James, who caught the eye with his powerful second-half carrying and a couple of crucial defensive reads, who was highlighted by Warburton in his post-match analysis on BBC.
He said: “’Before the game, let’s be realistic Wales weren’t going to win that game, so when they come back in this week they have to look at what went well and I thought maul defence went well, the line-out went well and I thought Eddie James showed much more promise when it came to the 13 jersey with his combination with Joe Hawkins (in midfield). There were aspects of the game that went well for Wales.
“Every time a game is played you find out more about someone, particularly young players and their ability to play at this level and I was really pleased with Eddie James, really pleased.
“I am looking at somebody who can take over this midfield – when you think of Jon Davies having hung up his boots – and I just saw enough of Eddie James today.
“Like in the second half he came out of defence and took a really nice ball when France tried going wide; they had got us there every time in the first half. He has gone in at half-time, I am sure the defence coach has gone to him with the lap-top and said ‘look they are doing this, make that read out the back’ and he’s gone and he’s done it.
“These young players need time in the jersey to learn those mistakes, come back and prove themselves right. He will go away and think ‘I can play at this level’ and if every time he does that he will build in confidence. If you do that with all the young players, in time, they will improve.”
Ryan Elias takes the game to France
Warburton added: “I don’t think Wales were outpowered today, just outclassed by France’s ball handling and their ability to play space so well.
“I don’t think the scoreline reflects the effort of some of the Wales players. I think there are some positives to take into Scotland.”
Warburton’s words were echoed by England great Martin Johnson who added: “He (James) had a couple of strong carries, if you are a Welsh player and see that you get a lift. He is aggressive and went forward, when Wales were aggressive and direct they looked ok.”