Edwards says there are similarities between Wales and north England

Tom Shanklin recently described how Edwards and head coach Warren Gatland "don't beat around the bush...screaming at your face telling you as it is".

But Edwards told BBC Wales' Scrum V: "I didn't scream in their faces.

"I may be quite vocal at certain times when I'm stressing a point, but I don't scream obscenities or anything without any thought."

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Edwards, a former Wigan and Great Britain rugby league star, says he criticises players to make them better.

"I just told them first and foremost that as a coach I was here to help, not to dictate, and to tell them that we're in it together.

There are a lot of similarities between the people of south Wales and a place like Wigan. It's a nice kind of bonkers Shaun Edwards

"If I constructively criticise you it's only because I want to make you a better player and a better team.

"It's not because I want to slaughter you as an individual - and I'll never do that - and also if they make a mistake, I make a mistake. It's that sort of attitude, that we're in it together.

"I do it maybe to stress a certain point at certain times and then I'd go and talk to them quietly on their own after the training session."

Wasps allow Edwards to divide his time between them and Wales, which means he cannot be at all of the Six Nations title challengers' training sessions.

But he is satisfied the work he asks players to undertake in his absence is done.

Edwards said: "Yes, there is something that makes me purr.

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"If I've asked players to do extras on certain aspects of the game, I may not even have been there, but I'll have made a phone call and asked if they were doing that and they've said 'yes' every single time.

"I gave Martyn Williams a little group to work on post-tackle and every time I've not been at a training session - I've missed a couple of training sessions, but not many - I've rung up and asked has Martin's group done their work and it's 'yes'. I don't have to ask any more than that."

Edwards believes there are striking similarities between Welsh rugby fans and their Wigan counterparts, and their respective regions.

"Wigan absolutely has a lot in common with Wales," he added. "Someone asked me what's it like in Wales? The answer is it's like a giant Wigan except the rules are different.

"The passion's the same. The emotion's the same, the enthusiasm of the people and their friendliness.

"There are a lot of similarities between the people of south Wales and the north of England, in particular a place like Wigan and the rugby side of it. It's a nice kind of bonkers."