Wales forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys believes his side will need to “be better than we were in all the games before this weekend” in order to complete a Grand Slam.
Wayne Pivac’s team have been flawless so far in the 2021 Guinness Six Nations and to clinch a second clean sweep in three years they will need to beat France in Paris on Saturday, as they did in 2019.
But Humphreys acknowledges they will have to be at their best if they want to triumph over a talented Les Bleus side, who were denied a Grand Slam shoot-out with Wales after a 23-20 defeat to England last weekend.
“They still have a hell of a lot to play for, and the DNA of the team does not change,” said Humphreys.
“We believe we are going up against one of the best teams in the world, and that we are going to have to be at our very, very best to get what we want from the weekend.
“There is excitement that we are obviously in the hunt for a big prize, but it is contained by the fact we have got a huge game in front of us and we need to be better than we were in all the games before this.”
After Wales’ difficult run under Pivac’s new leadership last year, they have turned the corner in 2021 to win all four of their games to date.
And former hooker-turned-coach Humphreys has credited the experience of the talismanic skipper Alun Wyn Jones in making the difference.
The most-capped player in Test match history is aiming become the first man to win four Grand Slams in the Six Nations era and has a gravitas in the dressing room.
“There are 25 of this squad who have won big in this Championship,” added Humphreys, who earned 35 caps for Wales between 1995 and 2003.
“You are led by that, you are led by Al (Alun Wyn Jones), who sets the tone very, very well about this. There is nobody who has been through this more than he has.
“When you have a team meeting and one of those [senior players] stands up and says something, you listen, based on the fact that they have been there, done it and experienced all that stuff. That is worth its weight in gold.
“I think it is belief. It’s something you can’t coach – belief that you are capable of going out there and doing it. When people speak and young people hear, they immediately believe.”
