WARRENBALL TO WAYNEBALL PUTS WALES ON BRINK OF SLAM

WALES’ transition from ‘Warrenball’ to ‘Wayneball’ has left them on the brink of Grand Slam glory.

And iconic captain Alun Wyn Jones insists his team won’t go into their shells on the big stage.

Former Wales head coach Warren Gatland had huge success in more than a decade in charge, but it still didn’t stop some fans wanting to see a more attacking style of play.

After a horror first year in charge, Gatland’s successor Wayne Pivac (above) has got Wales purring, and they have scored a record-equalling 17 tries in this Six Nations, with a game still to spare. Pivac’s in-form side hammered whipping boys Italy 48-7 and now only France stand between them and a clean sweep.

“It’s an away game and a decider and we are not going to shy away from that,” said Jones. “We still have to go up a few gears. France are arguably the in-form team and have been for the last two years. I’m sure they’re not going to stop that this week.” Dragons boss Pivac has gone from a man under pressure for his job to four straight victories, over Ireland, Scotland, England and Italy, and a Triple Crown is already in the bag.

Now Wales are bidding for a shock clean sweep.

“It’s pleasing to score tries, people love seeing tries scored, and we like playing a brand of rugby where we give ourselves the opportunity to score plenty of tries,” said Pivac. “We’ve got to make sure we get the balance in our game right. That’s something we’ve been working on and tweaking. Hopefully, we can continue to score tries.”

A brace from Ken Owens, plus scores from Josh Adams, Taulupe Faletau, George North, Callum Sheedy and Louis Rees-Zammit secured a bonus-point win for seven-try Wales in Rome.

They are now the only side who can win a Grand Slam after France’s defeat by England.

“We know what France are like physically,” said North. “They attack with real flair. We know we’ve got to be on our mettle come Saturday. They are a team in great form at the moment.”