JAMIE Roberts has vowed Wales will come out firing against France in Cardiff in a fortnight as they seek to atone for their Dublin debacle.
The powerhouse centre held his hands after the 26-3 defeat to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium and accepted they were steamrollered by a better team.
But the Racing Metro man believes Wales can bounce back when the French come to the Millennium Stadium on Friday, February 21.
On the Ireland hammering, Roberts said: “It's disappointing. We've come here hoping to win, hoping to beat Ireland on their own turf. But we haven't played well enough.
“They've beaten us in the territorial game, at the breakdown and in most facets of the game. “In the driving mauls and with their kicking game they were better than us. We weren't good enough to win and it's very disappointing and very frustrating and very hard to take.”
The beauty is however, according to the 2008 and 2012 Grand Slam winner, is that Wales can quickly turn things around in front of their home fans.
“ But that's sport, that's the way it is,” Roberts said. “It's important now we analyse that and bounce back. That's the great thing about this tournament is you have a chance very soon to rectify things, but we know we have to win our next game.
“We'll accept we were beaten by a better team. Ireland were very good in every facet of play and dominated us. It's back to the drawing board to try to rectify things in a few weeks. Don't worry: we'll come out hammer and tongs against France in Cardiff.”
He revealed how Wales will be inspired by last season’s unexpected win in Paris over France against all the odds and after a defeat to Ireland at the Millennium Stadium.
“We have to (draw on that),” Roberts said. “There is no other way for us. The Six Nations is a tournament where you can rectify things pretty quickly. We lost one game last year and still won the championship. We have to beat France. That's the next big target. Everything will go into that 80 minutes. There'll be no excuses from there on in.”
And Roberts believes Wales shouldn’t be written off to win an historic third successive Six Nations title in a row just yet.
He said: “Ireland have won two from two and will be delighted, but it's a long tournament with many twists and turns, which is the beauty of the Six Nations. We've lost one game but we can still win the tournament.”
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