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At the beginning of Wales' tour to New Zealand, the Welsh management talked of creating a siege mentality out there.

After the dismal performance against the Chiefs - the Waikato seconds - they have got their wish.

Wales were awful. I was more depressed than disappointed. I had thought that the days of humiliating defeats by second string regional teams in the southern hemisphere were a thing of the past (my past to be precise!).

The cause of the shambles in Hamilton was placed firmly on the inadequacy of the fringe players. Players who have been waiting quietly on the sidelines for their chance to show the coaches what they can do.

Yet, when you look at the team sheet, the vast majority of the men who played on Tuesday have been first choice regulars for Wales within the last 18 months.

Rob Evans, Scott Baldwin, Bradley Davies, Luke Charteris, Sam Warburton, Gareth Davies, Scott Williams, Taulupe Faletau, Jamie Roberts.

Are these really fringe players?

(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

Yes, there were some genuine fringe players in that midweek team who failed to perform, but they were indistinguishable from the senior pros.

The management has successfully created a myth that this was the dirt-trackers’ fault. Sorry, I’m not buying it.

In fact, I think there are a few myths that have been repeated so often by those in authority that they have become accepted as truths.

These ideas have become embedded into our every day thinking and they dominate the way we approach the game. But they have absolutely no basis in fact.

In particular there are three nuggets trotted out daily when discussing rugby in Wales that perfectly sums up the difference between Wales and New Zealand. These phrases should be banned.

The first phrase that needs to be banished is saying that a team needs to “go through the phases”. What does that mean?

In a Welsh context, it means sticking to the mindless and repetitive game plan of sending ball carriers round the corner to smash into a waiting defender.

The game plan is called ‘pattern’ within the camp and it is a philosophy that has been a constant under Warren Gatland; that monotonous sequence of running the same way with a single pass to a runner, to be continued to the touchline before changing direction.

‘Going through the phases’, by its very nature, implies that the objective is not to make a break, create space, make the defence think or even score a try.

No, it’s just a process that the players go through while waiting for something else to happen.

After 25 minutes in the second half against the Chiefs, Wales had recycled the ball 80 times in comparison to Waikato’s six. Yet Gatland's men were still losing the second half 12-7.

New Zealand’s mindset is never to ‘go through the phases’, if they have possession they want to create.

(Image: Getty Images)

Every time they have the ball they are looking to score a try, create a line-break and threaten the defence. If they don’t succeed on the first attempt, they recycle the ball and try again.

Having another phase means that they have another opportunity to make a break. With Wales it’s the opposite, the whole point seems to be just keeping the ball for the sake of keeping the ball within a low risk and conservative method.

The second phrase I hate from Gatland and the management is “play in the right areas.” I would like to know what the difference is between a four versus two which is in the opposition half, compared to a four versus two in our own half?

It’s a four versus two and if your skills are any good then it’s a great opportunity to run and create.

With 90 seconds left in the first Test in Auckland, the Blacks were 11 points ahead and they were stuck on their own try line.

Wales were pounding away in their 'agoraphobic' style when they lost possession. The Blacks had turnover ball on their own line and they had an overlap.

Did they think ‘oh no, this isn’t the right area to run from’? No, they flicked a switch and as a team they went from defence to offence, ran the ball away from the try line and made 70 yards in a sweeping movement.

They are not bound to a rigid prescriptive game plan that pre-determines your decisions based on irrelevant concepts.

A four versus two is the same anywhere on the pitch and it’s a travesty to ignore it because you have such little confidence or belief in your skills that you can’t trust the players to execute.

Finally, the third so-called ‘truism’ which must be banished from Welsh rugby is ‘earn the right to go wide’. It is utter nonsense. But because it’s been repeated so many times by those in high places it has somehow been accepted as fact.

It is not fact and if you want proof of that just watch the first two matches that Wales have played on tour.

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If the space is out wide, then New Zealand get the ball into those areas quickly and go from there. They have not earned that privilege; they have simply looked up, seen the space and passed that ball.

Lots of teams drop their wingers back to cover kicks when they are in the opposition half, meaning that the space is often in wider channels. New Zealand see that and immediately get the ball into an area where there are the fewest defenders.

They’ll do it from a kick or a scrum or a turnover. If the gaps are out wide then that’s where the ball should go.

Some of the Welsh players seem to have a nosebleed if they deviate from the script and start reacting to what’s in front of them.

Not every one of them is like that, Liam Williams, George North and Rhys Webb were comfortable in the first Test playing in exposed areas, but they were largely alone in that.

I expect a reaction by Wales in the second Test. I think they will try to slow the game down and make it more physical and forward orientated.

If it rains they will have some success. I’m sure, but we cannot contain the Blacks for 80 minutes and we must find ways of being more adventurous.

I have been anticipating a similar scoreline to the first Test in Auckland.

*Gwyn Jones is a member of S4C’s rugby presentation team. Watch S4C’s extended free-to-air highlights of The First Test Match: New Zealand v Wales, in Rygbi: Seland Newydd v Cymru, Saturday evening 9pm, English subtitles available. S4C will have highlights of the three Tests. Available in HD, with S4C’s coverage of Wales’ Under 20s Rugby World Cup matches and Wales’ Euro 2016 football matches.