TIGHT five work will be high on Wales' to-do list when they take to the training field in Colwyn Bay this week.

Warren Gatland's men have headed north following last weekend's hugely disappointing 35-21 loss to Ireland in which they were outplayed in every facet of the game.

They were alarmingly bullied in the tight at the Millennium Stadium with the only consolation being that the pack that takes to the field in the return fixture in Dublin at the end of the month will be vastly different.

Gatland will bring back his big guns after handing opportunities to fringe players but lock Jake Ball, one of the few to emerge relatively unscathed from the meek display, knows the squad have plenty of work to do.

"Some of the breakdown work was pretty poor and they capitalised on our errors," admitted the Scarlets forward.

"It was a mixed day for the front five. We started with a couple of poor scrums and it was a tough battle up front.

"It's not down to any lack of effort. There are a couple of things we need to go back and look at."

Ball will survive the first cull along with fellow locks Alun Wyn Jones, Luke Charteris and Bradley Davies.

His hopes of pressing for a starting berth at the World Cup weren't helped by the spluttering team display but the 24-year-old did put himself about when winning his 13th cap.

"There's a lot of the stuff in my game that I was happy with. I'm trying to get my hands on the ball and I think I achieved that, carrying hard and trying to have that physical presence," he said.

Gatland and his coaches will whittle down their squad after their three-day camp/PR exercise in north Wales from 47 to at least 38 with uncapped Newport Gwent Dragons centre Jack Dixon among those who could be released.