WALES are 80 minutes from Grand Slam glory, a feat made all the more impressive by the fact they are still coming to terms with life without Shane.

There have been moments in the Six Nations that the Welsh backline has been terrific with their pace and power giving their opponents headaches during the game and forcing them to rush for the ice packs afterwards.

But the unpredictability of Shane Williams on the wing, his ability to take risks and willingness to come hunting for work, is sorely missed since his retirement.

All is not rosy in the Welsh garden – a view that may appear churlish when France are the only team that stand between Wales and a third Grand Slam in seven years.

Les Bleus are not as shambolic as it would seem and a glance at the names in their squad for Saturday emphasises the need for improvement if all the talk of matching the greats from the seventies is not to look incredibly chippy in hindsight.

Much was made of the shocking performance of referee George Clancy in last weekend's dour win against Italy, and rightly so.

He pedantry at the breakdown stopped Wales from building up a head of steam and allowed the Azzurri to make it a frustrating afternoon.

But that must not be allowed to mask the deficiencies of Warren Gatland's side.

While the powerful running of the big four – wingers George North and Alex Cuthbert with centres Jamie Roberts and Jon Davies – created some early problems for their visitors Wales lacked spark once the Italians scrambled well in defence.

Gatland talks about wanting his charges to put sides to the sword yet they failed to find a way to do so against Italy, just as it was only the yellow cards that allowed them to put the foot down against Scotland.

It is a sign of respect that teams are changing their own systems in a bid to counter the threat of the Welsh runners; that they are moving forwards around the park to cope with the physical danger of North and Roberts.

But Wales must learn to adapt to such scenarios in the game and at the moment a heavy burden is on the fast feet of Leigh Halfpenny amid all the bludgeoning.

He is something different among the giants.

The full-back is often asked by his coaches to use his booming right boot to kick the ball long, but he also cuts a nice line and can exploit the space created by the bigger lumps.

Such gamebreakers are like gold dust and long term Gatland must be considering adding another of them on his right wing.

Strange as is sounds after a man of the match performance by Cuthbert but it may be one of his Cardiff Blues teammates that is the answer on the right wing.

The highly-rated teenager Harry Robinson, who is said to have similar attacking qualities as his namesake and England great Jason, was selected in the Six Nations squad and is learning his trade on the sevens circuit.

He could well taste Test action in Australia this summer but if that's deemed too soon then perhaps James Hook will be moved to full-back with Halfpenny shifted out to the wing.

Much has been made of Wales being on a downward spiral since beating Ireland in Dublin and part of this is down to their opponents closing down Rhys Priestland and putting some serious pressure on the fly-half.

With their distributor not quite hitting his straps, the Welsh backs have failed to fire. But they have still scored all of Wales’ nine tries and these three-quarters are capable of a great deal more.

It may seem ridiculously 'glass half empty' but even if Wales secure another clean sweep at the weekend there is plenty of work to be done if southern hemisphere scalps are to follow.