Scotland loss ‘is a boost for Wales’

Warren Gatland told his Wales side to go out and play some rugby in the second half of their epic 27-26 Six Nations loss to Scotland on Saturday as the team scored 26 unanswered points to nearly pull off one of the great comebacks.

Scotland led 27-0 after 45 minutes in Cardiff, but when they let their discipline slip Wales took advantage of two yellow cards and roared back with four tries, losing by a point when it seemed they could go down by a record score.

“It’s hard to sum “up the game,” Gatland told reporters. I was really disappointed with that first half. We were inaccurate, had no tempo in our game and gave away some soft penalties. “The message at halftime was simple — just go out and play some rugby. They should be proud they didn’t throw in the towel. There are some learnings for us, but it is a step in the right direction.”

Gatland believes the character of his side shone through, which will hold them in good stead for the game against England at Twickenham next Saturday.

“Like I just said to the players, did we give Scotland too much respect? To do what we did, other teams might have shown less character. We’ve got to play [against England] like we did in the second half. They are in a rebuilding phase and we will go there with confidence.”

Gatland believes his team’s critics should not be too harsh with fullback Cameron Winnett playing only his 16th game of professional rugby.

“When you’re out there in front of 75,000 people, sometimes it takes time to get used to that.”