Sean Fitzpatrick: Wales must boost regional game to challenge top sides, says All Blacks great

Sean Fitzpatrick joined Scarlets as a non-executive director and global ambassador in July 2020

New Zealand great Sean Fitzpatrick says Wales must build from the bottom up if the national team wants to taste victory over the All Blacks again.

Wales start their autumn series against New Zealand on 30 October in Cardiff, having not beaten them since 1953.

But ex-All Blacks skipper Fitzpatrick believes that a lack of quality at regional level is hurting Wales.

Asked if Wales can beat the All Blacks, he said: "Not at the moment, I don't think so."

After facing New Zealand, Wales play South Africa, Fiji and Australia at the Principality Stadium on consecutive weekends.

Former hooker Fitzpatrick, who won 92 caps, believes Wayne Pivac's Wales side is competitive, but the state of the regional game is preventing the national side reaching its full potential.

The 58-year-old has a greater knowledge of the state of regional rugby in Wales after being appointed to the Scarlets board in July 2020.

"They [Wales] played really well in the Six Nations, were quite outstanding, but I just feel there's coming a time when Wales are going to have to start developing in the regions," Fitzpatrick told BBC Sport Wales.

"That's a concern for me, that there's so much emphasis put on international rugby that the quality of the regional rugby is not as good as it should be.

"You only have to look at the successful teams in the world, they have good domestic competitions.

"You look at the quality of the [English] Premiership this year, how good that was, you look at Aotearoa - the Super Rugby - how good that was. If you don't perform in the clubs, you don't play international rugby.

"That's where we need to get to in Welsh rugby - if you're not playing well for the Scarlets or the Ospreys etc, you don't get picked for Wales. We need our international players playing more club rugby."

South African teams 'add value'

One potential boost for Wales' four regional teams - Scarlets, Ospreys, Dragons and Cardiff - is the Pro14 having rebranded as the new United Rugby Championship.

South Africa's four leading teams - Sharks, Stormers, Lions and Bulls - have joined the competition for 2021-22 and will play alongside the 12 existing sides from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in a 16-team league.

The fixture list for the inaugural season has not yet been revealed -but while Fitzpatrick has concerns over potential clashes with the autumn Test series, he welcomes the addition of the four South African heavyweights.

"The four South African teams are clearly the best South African teams, they've come straight out of Super Rugby, but in terms of their time zone, in terms of their travel it makes sense - and it adds value to our competition," he said.

"United Rugby needs to be a good competition and I go back to what I've said about international players... to have a good brand, you need the best players playing that rugby.

"Ultimately, the United Rugby Championship could be the best tournament, because you have such a diverse mix of teams playing in it and very, very good teams that with their international players would be fantastic."