Laulala and Roberts celebrating the Blues’ Amlin Cup win in 2010 |
Casey Laulala believes a return to Cardiff Blues duty is just the tonic Jamie Roberts needs after a subdued Six Nations campaign with Wales.
Roberts form has been criticised by Wales coach Warren Gatland and former England centre Jeremy Guscott.
He was told to “go looking for the ball” by Gatland, who was critical of his performance against England.
“He’s coming back to the Blues and playing for us and hopefully he can get his hands on the ball,” said Laulala.
Speaking on Scrum V Guscott said that Roberts had not been a “tour de force” for Wales following his exploits with the British and Irish Lions in South Africa in 2009.
However, Laulala believes his Cardiff Blues centre partner’s displays were no different to other centres performances during the Six Nations.
“I’ve watched a couple of games where he hasn’t really touched the ball,” said Laulala, the Samoan born former New Zealand player.
“The defensive side of his game has been brilliant. He put that big tackle that turned the ball over to win against Ireland.
“But if you watch some of the centres in the competition, in the game against England Mike Tindall didn’t touch the ball more than he did.
“It’s just when Jamie does touch the ball he makes something happen. He’s such a great player people expect more of him.”
Laulala believes that there is plenty for Roberts to work on as Wales look forward to the World Cup in New Zealand in September.
And Roberts will see plenty of the ball when to returns to Magners League action with the Cardiff Blues according to Lualala.
“Every campaign there’s always something you need to improve on,” added Lualala.
“As players you have things you need to work on heading to a different competition.
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As a centre you’re not really in the game sometimes and you just have to run off the nine and come looking for the ball |
“But I see it as a real positive for him because heading to a World Cup he needs to touch the ball more. That’s something for Jamie to try and improve.
“It’s a real positive thing for Wales that he’s got that to work on.
“As a centre you’re not really in the game sometimes and you just have to run off the nine and come looking for the ball.
“And I know what he’s feeling because I know exactly what it’s like when it’s a rainy day or a game where the forwards are not playing well.
“They need a bit of a hand and you just need to come off and run short balls off people and looking for work. It’s nothing that he can’t do.”
