Much has been made of the New Zealander's recent tactic of substituting tighthead prop Adam Jones for Gethin Jenkins well before half-time.

But Hansen has defended his approach to the front row as he prepares for the clash against France on Sunday week.

"If people don't understand something, they tend to talk about it," he said.

"The bottom line is we haven't got a lot of tightheads that do the job scrummage-wise.

"Adam is doing a great job for us in that respect. If you then pair him up with Gethin, who has all the other things, then you look at them as a package.

"We are trying to get Gethin scrummaging better and improve Adam's fitness. "

Despite their suspect performance in the 36-15 defeat at Lansdowne Road, Hansen remains positive about the pack's ability.

"I haven't lost any confidence or belief in the forwards after what happened in Dublin.

"I understand it for what it is. It is just part of the process of the team growing. Gaining hardness is part of that growing up process. We've got a young pack that is only going to get better.

"I know we will go in there against France and be very competitive."

For that match Wales will have Colin Charvis back after the captain missed the trip to Dublin with a dislocated index finger.

And Hansen admits Wales missed the Tarbes flanker.

"A few people had suggested that Colin shouldn't be in the team before the Championship.

"They can now see how much we missed him on Sunday."