Gatland: England game will be electric
As if Wales versus England in the Six Nations needed any more hype. The only two unbeaten teams will meet at the Principality Stadium on Saturday week and Warren Gatland is already looking to paint his men as the huge underdogs.
Certainly, it was possible to do exactly that after this stuttering victory over the Italians. Granted, Gatland made 10 changes and there was a definite sense of disjointedness as they stretched their winning run to a record-equalling 11 matches, but with not even the whiff of a bonus point.
The likes of Alun Wyn Jones, George North and Justin Tipuric will no doubt return and Gatland will expect Wales to be infinitely sharper and, indeed, a lot more inspired. The chance to cast themselves apart in Welsh rugby history with 12 on the bounce will be just the start of it.
“Everyone before the start of the tournament thought that the decider might come down to that last game with Ireland, but obviously now there are just two of us still in with a chance for a Grand Slam and the Triple Crown as well, so there will be no lack of motivation,” Gatland said. “It will be electric in the Principality Stadium.
“Once you are on a run like this, you don’t want it to go. The nice thing is, we have two weeks together in the build-up to England, and we are excited about it. We have a few things to work on, which is always pleasing.”
Gatland will clearly not take it easy on his players and will use the perceived might of Eddie Jones’s side to rouse his squad. Of course, there will be nothing new in that as far as Wales are concerned, although this does appear the perfect time for the shrewd Kiwi to evoke the David and Goliath images.
“We have probably helped ourselves a little by not playing as well as we could have and, as a result, everyone will start talking England up and sometimes that’s easier to help motivate yourself if that does happen,” Gatland said. “But for us to get two victories and two away wins is an outstanding start. Things are in our own hands, with two big home games to come.”
Gatland accepted some of the blame for this display, but refused to admit to any regrets. If anything, this would have told him who he probably should not persist with in a fortnight. Dan Biggar was bafflingly a shadow of his usual assured self, but, in contrast, Thomas Young, making his first Six Nations start, underlined the riches Wales boast in the back row. However, it must be doubted if the Wasps flanker did anywhere near enough to earn the nod over Tipuric.
“On reflection, the number of changes we made, we did not have that continuity we would have had if we had kept a number of the same players from the French game,” Gatland said. “It’s a double-edged sword, isn’t it? Look, 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, got the win. I will try to look at that as a positive.
“You question if you kept the same team and had a real convincing win, in terms of finishing off those opportunities we created, 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.”
It was a curious encounter in many ways. Italy endured a slow start and when Biggar’s boot handed Wales a 12-0 advantage, a rout appeared likely.
But Braam Steyn’s try gave the home side hope and they dug deep to make it a proper contest, capitalising on the visitors’ errors. Yet there was never a moment when an upset seemed possible.
For Conor O’shea, the Italy head coach, it was an all-too-familiar story, but the Irishman’s conviction in the post-match press conference was impressive after a 19th successive
Six Nations defeat. “We aren’t giving up, we’re excited about the future of this team,” O’shea said. “If we continue to work, I believe we are going to overturn that difference with the others.
“We’ve lost another battle but we are still in the war.”
Scores 0-3 Biggar pen; 0-6 Biggar pen; 0-9 Biggar pen; 0-12 Biggar pen; 5-12 Steyn try; 7-12 Allan conversion; 10-12 Allan pen; 10-17 Adams try; 10-19 Biggar con; 10-24 Watkin try; 10-26 Anscombe con; 15-26 Padovani try.
Italy J Hayward; E Padovani, M Campagnaro, L Morisi, A Esposito; T Allan (I Mckinley 48), G Palazzani (E Gori 60); N Quaglio (C Traore 51), L Ghiraldini (L Bigi 60), S Ferrari (T Pasquali 60), D Sisi, D Budd (F Ruzza 52), S Negri (Barbini 57), B Steyn, S Parisse. Replacement T Benvenuti.
Wales L Williams (H Amos 67); J Holmes, J Davies, O Watkin, J Adams; D Biggar (G Anscombe 55), A Davies (G Davies 63); N Smith (W Jones 63), E Dee (R Elias 67), S Lee (D Lewis 51), J Ball (A W Jones 51), A Beard, A Wainwright, T Young, J Navidi (R Moriarty 67).
Referee Mathieu Raynal (France).