'The breakdown is a 15-man job' - Sam Warburton defends Wales rookie flanker

Sam Warburton has come to the defence of Wales flanker Taine Basham in his recent column for The Times.

Basham has been the target of some criticism as Wales struggled at the breakdown during the opening rounds of the Six Nations, particularly against England.

"Wales clearly struggled at the breakdown against England, and I have seen some suggestions that open-side flanker Taine Basham should carry the can for that," former Wales and Lions captain Warburton wrote.

"That is nonsense. The breakdown is a 15-man job. Basham can only be at, probably, one in four rucks. There were much deeper issues for Wales at Twickenham that they urgently need to fix for this France match.

"They conceded seven breakdown penalties against England and I went through them all. Some of them were down to very good work from England, but there were some sloppy mistakes by Wales."

Warburton also warned that inaccuracy from Wales will be punished by France.

"France, like New Zealand, have that x-factor to punish any side in the world from only one phase," he explained.

"I can imagine that Neil Jenkins, who is in charge of Wales’ exit strategies from their own half, will be telling the team not to play more than one phase in that part of the field. Only if there is a glaring opportunity — say a three-man overlap — should they consider anything else."