Gatland out to turn heat on England
WARREN Gatland wants Wales to lure England into a false sense of security before a potential Six Nations Championship decider in Cardiff at the end of the month.
The Welsh have not lost in nearly a year now, and ticked off their 11th consecutive win in Rome to equal the national record that has stood for 109 years.
But after a shocking first half in Paris and a disjointed 80 against Italy, Wales have been underwhelming despite winning two from two like England,
Gatland is hoping their lack of fluency means Wales are written off for the Principality Stadium clash with England.
‘We have probably helped ourselves a little bit by not playing as well as we could have and as a result everyone will talk England up,’ he said.
‘Sometimes that’s easier to help motivate yourself if that happens.
‘I thought the England performance against Ireland was the best I have seen from an England team in the last five years. Tactically they were outstanding.’
All said with a twinkle in the eye, Gatland knows what awaits England in the Welsh capital will be like nothing they have faced so far. And with a long build-up to that massive match, he is sure Wales will be ready.
‘Everyone before the tournament thought that the decider might come down to that last game with Ireland,’ he added.
‘But obviously now there are just two of us still in with a chance for a Grand Slam and the Triple Crown, so there will be no lack of motivation. It will be electric in the Principality Stadium, and it gives us a chance to be at home. Once you are on a run like this you don’t want it to go. We have a few things to work on, which is always pleasing —and a couple of really tough weeks of training.’
Precious few Rome new-boys pressed a serious claim to start the England game. Thomas Young went well on Championship debut, but is unlikely to win a back-row slot ahead of Justin Tipuric, Ross Moriarty and Josh Navidi.
The latter talked up the surfeit of Welsh flankers — their stable of sevens in contrast to England.
‘We’re breeding back-rowers at the moment,’ said Navidi. ‘We could be in England’s position where they are looking for a seven. We have a number coming through in Wales.’
Otherwise Six Nations starting debutant Aled Davies was ponderous, and will surely be replaced by the nippier Gareth Davies, and Leicester’s Jonah Holmes — by his own admission — would have been disappointed not to take his chance.
Dan Biggar did not grasp the No 10 shirt either, despite scoring 14 points. Owen Watkin and Josh Adams scored Wales’ tries with Edoardo Padovani and Braam Steyn scoring for Italy.
On making 10 changes Gatland said: ‘If I had it over again you might question if it was the right thing to do to make so many changes but we have done that and got the win. You question if you kept the same team and had a real convincing win, maybe the other question would be why didn’t you use more of the squad when you had the chance to?
‘Hindsight is a great thing. For us to get two away wins is an outstanding start. It was not a great performance today but it is a great start to the tournament.
‘Things are in our own hands, with two home games to come.’
And lock Jake Ball knows Wales owe England one after the way they lost last year, with Gareth Anscombe’s try controversially disallowed in a 12-6 Twickenham defeat.
‘We know it’s going to be one hell of a challenge,’ he said. ‘I go back to 2018 at home to England. To lose a game like that was gutting from a personal point of view and I know the boys won’t want to feel like that again.’
ITALY: Hayward 4; Padovani 6, Campagnaro 5, Morisi 5, Esposito 6; Allan 6 (McKinley 48-55min), Palazzani 6 (Gori 60, 5); Quaglio 6 (Traore 51, 6.5), Ghiraldini 5 (Bigi 60, 5), Ferrari 5 (Pasquali 60, 5); Sisi 6.5, Budd 6 (Ruzza 52, 5); Negri 7 (Barbini 57, 6), Parisse 5, Steyn 7.
WALES: Williams 6 (Amos 67, 5); Holmes 4, J Davies 5, Watkin 6.5, Adams 6; Biggar 6 (Anscombe 55, 7), A Davies 4.5 (G Davies 63, 6); Smith 6 (Wyn Jones 63, 6), Dee 4.5 (Elias 67, 6), Lee 5.5 (Lewis 51, 6); Ball 6 (AW Jones 51, 7), Beard 7; Wainwright 7, Navidi 7.5 (Moriarty 67, 6), Young 7.5.