Brent Cockbain Wales lock

Ospreys and Lions second-row Brent Cockbain is on the Wales bench for the game with France in Paris.

He took a break after a heavy training session to answer some of your questions.

Welcome back to the fold, Brent, great to have you in the Wales 22 after such a long time. How are things going?
Barry, 28, Barry

Thanks, it's been a very long time since Fiji in 2005, a long road back. They've been working us hard in training, there are a few quiet and tired boys around the camp. I'm already in bed and it's only 7.45 pm!

Are you disappointed that the Wales coaching staff haven't brought you into the side to give Wales a bit of bite up front? I think you and Alun Wyn Jones would be a perfect partnership in the second row!
Benjamin Roberts, 12, Gorseinon, Swansea

Everyone's got an opinion on selection in Wales and it's nice to have that input, but Ian Evans and Ian Gough - who've been selected in my position for Wales in my time out - have been playing some great rugby.

Ian Evans is injured now, but Goughie has been putting in really strong performances.

Robert Sidoli's also been going well, but Scotland was just one of those days where the team didn't fire across the board.

After all the criticism in the press after the Scotland defeat, are the players demoralised?
Twm Williams, 30, Tregarth

No, not at all. We're quite insulated from what goes on outside the squad. We focus very much on the games.

Obviously we're behind the eight ball as far as France is concerned because they're at home and doing very well.

But we've been in this position before - two years ago we went out there, we were under the cosh at half-time but ended up winning. We've got every chance if we believe in ourselves and play to our best.

I'm not worried about the media or anything else except getting out there on Saturday and taking my opportunity with both hands.

Brent, after watching two rounds of the Six Nations I've been struck by how slow the ball is at the breakdown. It seems players have come on at staying on their feet and challenging for the ball. Are NZ the only team that have come up with a strategy for dealing with this?
Jason Smith, 36, Cardiff

France dealt with it very effectively against Ireland in the last round.

They tended to move through the point of contact and when a player was held in the tackle he didn't stop pumping his legs.

When his own side joined they weren't too worried about setting up the maul - they'd get in, start driving, and get beyond the advantage line to get quick ball.

But it is an issue in international rugby. All sides try to slow down ball, it makes things so much easier for the defence.

How on earth did Duncan and Adam have such a bad game against Scotland? I have always championed them - but gee they were pretty bad. You don't become a bad prop overnight, I played loose-head for 15 years at Llandovery and Dunvant in the '80s and '90s and never dropped my head!
Gordon Wride, over 21, Swansea

International rugby's a funny one, you're thrown in to do a job when you haven't faced a particular team for a year or more.

You analyse things on video, but it can be tough and there are always surprises.

It was one of those games against Scotland, but the guys kept their heads up, defended strongly, and kept trying to play despite only having 30% of the ball.

I said in my last column that it's hard to comment on the scrum without having been there, but Adam and Duncan Jones are extremely good scrummagers, and I'm sure they'll put it right if they're given another opportunity.

When you say that the line-out troubles weren't all down to the throw, can you tell us where you think the "other troubles" were and what percentage you put down to wayward throws? I played hooker for years and always blamed myself if the line-out didn't function - if jumpers weren't up then it was my job to read that.
Lawrence Toms, 39, Aberdare

It's a very complicated facet of play these days, with different sorts of throws, varying configurations for the line-outs, and trouble with the noise in the stadiums where you often can't hear yourself think.

Then it's such a short turnaround - you're not in a club scenario where you're playing with boys you know throughout the season.

You're thrown in and have to adjust, and often you won't know how it will work out until you're out in the heat of battle.

For me, a team that fails to challenge for a line-out when it's the opposition throw is a team signalling it cannot compete in this area of the game. Surely by letting the opposition know that they will be challenged for every ball maintains the psychological edge?
Phil Mort, 48, London

It's an interesting one, but different field positions will constitute different ideas about how we defend.

If a side gets its drill right, goes up at the right time, and takes the throw at the peak of the jump - it's very difficult to stop.

If they jump and you compete and they come down and drive - they've already got you under the cosh.

But if you stay down, often you can stop that drive or sack it - bring it to ground - and nullify the attack.

New Zealand are the top international side by a street and they use that tactic quite a bit. They stay down right across the pitch, but especially in their own 22 when they expect an opposition drive.

After the defeat in Scotland several Welsh players were seen out drinking until 3.30am. Is this acceptable in the middle of a professional competition, particularly after such a poor performance?
Melanie, 30, Shropshire

It was sanctioned by the management so I think it was OK, I don't think there's really much more to say about that one. Everything in moderation.

Could you give me your cured ham recipe?
Gwynne Parry Jones, 53, Caernarfon

Well, there's a few different types... If it's pickled ham, you use Guinness, sugar and salt and weigh down a ham under that solution for a certain number of days.

But if it's the Parma ham - it's cardamom pods, ground black pepper rubbed into the meat, and salt covering the ham completely.

You leave that for three days per kilo under a weight two-and-a-half times the weight of the meat - so if you're looking at a 10-kilo leg, it'll be 30 days at 25 kilos.

Then you wash it in white wine and vinegar to get the salt off, before wrapping it up in muslin, and then hanging it for nine months.

It's best to do that in winter when the temperature's 12 degrees or less. Then, ideally, you can leave it outside in the shed where it can dry naturally.

But you have to leave it nine months before eating it. I've got one that's been hanging for three years.

Do you still grow the biggest marrows in existence? From the chap that used to live in the flat above you in Cardiff!
James Pugh, 27, Taunton

Ah yes, I know him... I still grow quite a few gourds which is the family that marrows and pumpkins and courgettes - those sort of things - are related to.

But I generally concentrate on pumpkins for eating, like butternut squash and a blue pumpkin that I'm growing.

They're mainly for making soups and they store really well. They're easy to grow - across the floor like a vine.

They're great fun - I'm cultivating a few Halloween pumpkins as well.