Graham Henry has acknowledged that his future as Wales coach is in jeopardy following his side's record 54-10 hammering at the hands of Ireland in Dublin yesterday.

This latest defeat has damaged Henry's chances of seeing out his £250,000 that runs until after the World Cup in 2003.

Following the defeat in Dublin he admitted his future was out of his hands. "You need to ask someone else that question. We are going to get some pressure. All we can do, as coaches, is work to the best of our ability. I am sure we will do that and so will the players. We have to band together."

Seven of Wales's eight heaviest defeats in the Championship have occurred since 1998. And five of those have come since Henry took over in August 1998 - against Ireland, twice in five months, England in 2000 and 2001 and France at Cardiff two years ago.

Hnery position could worsen in less than two weeks time when his troubled side host France at the Millennim Stadium.

To add to his woes, several former Wales internationals have aired their detrimental views of the current state of the Wales set-up.

Former Welsh captain Gareth Davies described the latest performance as 'abysmal', while former wing Gerald Davies has called for a complete overhaul of the game in the Wales.

Gerald Davies commented, "They are in the grip of such desolation that it is hard to see how their morale can be raised. In the past, a little cosmetic surgery has put a new face on the Welsh team for a while. They are now in need of a serious operation."

Gareth Davies blasted Wales saying, "It went totally wrong - in some ways it was one of the most one-sided internationals I've ever seen in the Six Nations," Davies told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Apart from a five-minute patch when Stephen Jones scored his try we didn't really compete.

"The fans are quite angry and depressed and the same thing always happens in Wales, they call for heads - coaches heads and players' heads.

"The performance yesterday reached the real depths even with the poor performances of recent years.

"The fans travel all this way and are served up with a pretty abysmal performance.

"The disappointing thing with Wales' display is that we don't seem to be building any kind of style. We just look to be a bit of a shambles - 15 players on the park with no cohesion.

"You have got to blame the players for a start but when you've got huge investment into top-end coaches and players, coaches earning £250,000 a year have to hold their hands up - there had to be some kind of responsibility."

And Davies conceded Henry's job with Wales was under threat.

He added: "So many coaches have come and gone. The big difference is there's more accountability so I think his job could be on the line."