Warburton confident Wales can regain champion form

LONDON (AFP): Wales captain Sam Warburton is adamant the fact the Six Nations Grand Slam champions have lost their last seven Tests will count for little when they begin their title defence at home to Ireland on February 2.

“It is a really nice feeling going into the tournament as reigning champions,” Warburton said at the Six Nations launch in London on Wednesday. “We can take great confidence from that.”

Wales – the one country in the tournament where rugby rather than football is the national winter sport – ended 2012 with a depressing string of results featuring several narrow losses away and at home to Australia as well as morale-sapping defeats in Cardiff by Argentina and Samoa.

Wales suffered a 3-0 series loss in Australia and then, on the verge of beating the Wallabies, conceded a try with the last play of the match as they went down 14-12 at the Millennium Stadium in December.

“I thought we played very well against Australia in the autumn,” insisted Warburton. “It was a good performance and we did everything right apart from that last one minute of defence.

“That’s why it was disappointing and the hardest one to take. It was a game we should have won.”

Wales have lost their last three Tests against Australia by a combined margin of just five points and Warburton said: “It is easily recoverable. We might have had seven losses in a row, but some of those have been really tight matches. Players appreciate it is the fine line of international rugby.