Six Nations 2013: There’ll be no repeat of Ireland struggles – Howley

Wales interim coach Rob Howley insists there’ll be no repeat of their slow start against Ireland when his side take on France in Saturday’s Six Nations clash.

Howley’s side paid the price for being off-colour early on against the Irish and trailed by 20 points at the half-hour mark thanks to tries from Cian Healy and Simon Zebo.

Wales fought back in the second half with tries of their own from Alex Cuthbert, Leigh Halfpenny and Craig Mitchell however that hasn’t stopped Howley coming in for some stringent criticism this week.

Ryan Jones will skipper Wales in the Stade de France, replacing the injured Sam Warburton, in a new-look Welsh side which has three changes in the pack.

And with some fresh faces coming in Howley is adamant the Welsh performance will be worlds away from their struggles at the Millennium Stadium last weekend.

“Looking back at the game, from a coaches and players perspective, the first-half performance was not good enough. It wasn’t up to our standards in vital areas,” Howley said.

“That will not be replicated.

“Our discipline let us down and we gave Ireland a lot of field possession.

“It is important we look ahead now. It is a huge challenge for this group of players but one we are looking forward to.”

Wales: Halfpenny, Cuthbert, Davies, Roberts, North, Biggar, Phillips; Jenkins, Hibbard, A Jones, Coombs, I Evans, R Jones (captain), Tipuric, Faletau.

Replacements: K Owens, P James, Mitchell, Reed, Shingler, L Williams, Hook, S Williams.