Though the Lee Byrne saga has been disruptive, assistant coach Shaun Edwards insists Wales will still be more than ready for England. He talks to Chris Hewett in The Independent.
"Shaun Edwards, not always a study in relaxation during the build-up to a major international match, appeared particularly fraught yesterday as he chewed the fat ahead of this weekend's Six Nations set-to between England and Wales at Twickenham. "I've slipped a disc in my back and it's giving me gyp," he muttered by way of explanation, knowing it wouldn't wash for a second. Edwards did not achieve iconic status on either side of the rugby divide by allowing mere agony to gain the upper hand. Something else was eating away at him, and everyone knew what that "something" might be.
"Until the Welsh camp receive a definite "yay" or "nay" on the subject of Lee Byrne and his appeal against the profoundly controversial two-week suspension imposed in the wake of the Heineken Cup "16th man" fandango – the Lions full-back, playing for Ospreys against Leicester, returned to the field after treatment on a bloodied toe before a colleague had been withdrawn – they have no means of distinguishing between their posteriors and their funny bones. While Edwards, the No 2 coach to Warren Gatland and the Red Dragonhood's motivator-in-chief, expects to be told one way or the other as early as today, it will still be too late for comfort."
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