After ‘one-dimensional’ effort
France in Paris last weekend, face England in Cardiff next up in what could well be a battle of the two unbeaten teams, depending on what played out between England and France overnight.
England were mightily impressive in knocking over Ireland 32-20 in Dublin in the opening round and Gatland knows full well his team must lift several notches if they are going to give Eddie Jones and his troops much to worry about.
‘‘There are lots of things we need to improve for England,’’ he said. ‘‘The lineout was a bit concerning, we didn’t have enough tempo. We kept having to step away and Italy closed down that space pretty quickly.
‘‘If we play like that against England it could be embarrassing.’’
Wales’ last win over England came at the 2015 World Cup, and Gatland noted that it’s results at
At a glance
In Edinburgh: Ireland 22 (Conor Murray, Jacob Stockdale, Keith Earls tries; Jonathan Sexton con, Joey Carbery. con, pen), Scotland 13 (Sam Johnson try; Greig Laidlaw con, 2 pen). Ht: 12-10.
In Rome: Wales 26 (Josh Adams, Owen Watkins tries; Dan Biggar con, 4 pen; Gareth Anscombe con) Italy 15 (Braam Steyn, Edoardo Padovani tries; Tommaso Allan con, pen). Ht: 12-7. the global showpiece which have to be in the mind too, acknowledging post-match that that’s why he made the 10 changes to his side from the opening round.
‘‘I probably need to take some criticism myself in terms of making so many changes and perhaps not having that continuity,’’ he said.
‘‘But the plan was doubleedged with looking at the Six Nations and ahead to the World Cup.
‘‘We came here and did a job, got a win and can start thinking about the next two weeks which could already potentially be a championship decider.’’