Pivac: Title wait was rough ride after ‘devastating’ defeat

WAYNE PIVAC admitted Wales had been on an “emotional rollercoaster” before reaching their destination and being crowned Six Nations champions.

And the head coach also recounted a “sickening feeling” of seeing his side’s Grand Slam hopes being ended by France in the dying seconds of a pulsating Paris encounter.

It meant Les Bleus had a chance of denying Wales the title on Friday, but Wales’ sixth championship was confirmed after Scotland beat France 27-23.

“It was an emotional rollercoaster, the last seven days,” Pivac said.

“We put in by far our best performance against the French, and I thought we had done enough midway through the second half to have won.

“To lose it in the last play of the game was devastating. The boys really wanted that Grand Slam, so we had the lows of not achieving that.

“Then we didn’t know if it was good enough to win the championship.

“It probably took me until Wednesday or Thursday to really want to come out of the house, purely from the point of view that it was a sickening feeling for the players who had worked so hard.

“We desperately wanted that Grand Slam for so many reasons – for the hard work that went in, the style of rugby we played, and to win that way would have been fantastic. But we really wanted to do it for the people of Wales.”

Wales are now just one behind

England in terms of overall Six Nations title triumphs and their latest success (right) came after a poor 2020 when they won just three Test matches.

It was Pivac’s first year since succeeding Warren Gatland and the silverware underlines how things have turned around.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the team,” he added. “I know the rugby public hurt when we don’t win a Test match, just like how we hurt. That is expected, it goes with the territory. Moments like this make up for the bad times.