Writing in The Guardian, Shaun Edwards believes that all of the Six Nations sides need to make a step up this year if the British and Irish Lions are to be a success.
"Without doubt we will be going down there as firm underdogs. The Six Nations has to be a stepping stone for the Lions. All four home unions have to improve on last year, and that includes Wales, even though we won the grand slam. We all showed last autumn that we have the ability: Scotland really stuck it to New Zealand and South Africa at Murrayfield, for example, but virtually every time it came down to clinical finishing and sustaining energy levels.
"All this is not to argue that the style of rugby played in the south is superior. The southern hemisphere is constantly pushing for a quicker and quicker game but the faster the tempo in the Super 14 and Tri-Nations, the faster attendances there seem to be dropping.
"When you watch a Super 14 match, only the colour of jerseys tells the two teams apart. There seems to be a perception there that the quicker a game is and the more time the ball is in play, the more entertaining it is. I do not see it like that. The law variations have robbed the game this season of the driving maul."
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