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Ireland legend Ronan O’Gara has mounted an explosive blast at Welsh rugby and its players ahead of the Six Nations.

The former Lions and Munster outside-half, who coaches Wales stars Mike Phillips, Jamie Roberts and Dan Lydiate at Paris outfit Racing Metro, let rip with typical candour.

He gave his no-holds barred verdict on the problems engulfing the game here and offered his take on why the Blues, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets have lost a glut of players to French or English suitors.

Leigh Halfpenny becomes the most recent to be leaving, joining the likes of Roberts, Lydiate, Ian Evans, Richard Hibbard, George North, Luke Charteris, James Hook, Bradley Davies and Jonathan Davies in choosing to play away from Wales.

“The Welsh have nothing to keep their players at home for they have no pride in the provincial product,” claimed O’Gara in the Irish Examiner.

“They’ve achieved nothing in the regions, it’s about the Welsh jersey,” he continued, referring to the Heineken Cup rather that the RaboDirect Pro12, which has been won a record four-times by the Ospreys.

“They enhance their profile by playing with their country, whereas in Ireland, so many of the players are folk idols because of what they have done at provincial level.

“It’s practically on a par with the international team, which may not be right in some eyes, but the people of Dublin and Leinster and the people in Munster adore those who wear their jersey.

“Money notwithstanding, it is far better for an Irish player to be at home, because the top talent gets managed really well there.”

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Backing up his astonishing verbal assault was the decision of Ireland No.8 Jamie Heaslip to follow fellow Lions stars Paul O’Connell and Jamie Heaslip in signing new deals with the Irish Rugby Football Union.

“We played for each other at Munster,” continued O'Gara. “I always found with Munster and Ireland the players were treated like people first. That’s nice compared to being another number on a team-sheet.”

O’Gara, who went to Racing to begin a career in coaching and broaden his horizons, also warned Warren Gatland’s Six Nations-dominating Wales team could be hit by the consequences of our leading stars plying their trade in France

“The Top 14 is an incredibly difficult league, but the standard of rugby is very average,” he insisted. “It’s a slog, it’s combat every week, 28 games excluding Europe. You’re going out on soft pitches against big packs every week. It’s attrition.

“The contrast with Ireland is stark. Heaslip and O’Brien will know they get exceptionally well looked after in the IRFU player welfare programme.

“For that the Union deserve a lot of credit. If anything, you occasionally are under-played in Ireland where in France the problem will always be over-played.

“The consistency Munster found in the Pro12 is in stark contrast to the yo-yo form Racing are showing in France.

“Six months on, I haven’t figured it out even if the amount of different cultures in the dressing room – South Americans, South Africans, French, Irish, Welsh – has to be a factor, especially away from home.”