Just unbelievable!
Scots comeback stuns England as Wales complete their Grand Slam
EDDIE Jones blamed “mental problems” on England’s Calcutta Cup meltdown that almost allowed Scotland to pull off the greatest comeback in Six Nations history.
Jones admits he has six months before the World Cup to find a “fix” after a crazy contest saw England throw away a 31-0 lead after half an hour to draw 38-38 thanks to George Ford’s converted try deep into added on time.
England finished second in the table behind Grand Slam winners Wales, who thrashed Ireland 25-7.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland set his sights on World Cup glory after his team extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches.
WARREN Gatland believes his Welsh team are in fine fettle for Japan after sealing Six Nations glory.
“You’re involved in professional sport for days like these,” said Gatland, who will leave his job with Wales after the World Cup.
“We do a review after every campaign as a management team. We were supposed to be meeting as a staff on Tuesday and we have cancelled that. We are meeting for lunch now because it is our last time together and there is nothing to review on the Six Nations. I can sum it up in two words – pretty good.
“It was a great performance and the boys thoroughly deserve this. They have to be back in their regions on Monday, but if I was a regional coach I’d be giving them Monday off !
“I think they’re going to enjoy themselves for the next few days but they deserve that. They’ve worked their butts off in this campaign and we’ve pushed them hard.”
Gatland continued: “This group of players will run through a brick wall for you. In the World Cup, if we win our pool we potentially don’t face the Southern Hemisphere sides on the way through. I’m excited for the World Cup because you get two or three months together and you can prepare like a club side. In our previous two World Cups we were one of the fittest teams and we’ll be in great shape for this one as well.”
Wales’ players sent their supporters into delirium as Anscombe produced a coming-of-age display. The fly-half was forced to move to full-back, but produced an outrageous chip to set up a try for Parkes with less than 90 seconds on the clock, converted the score, and ended with six penalty goals.
Gatland couldn’t resist a dig at England head coach Eddie Jones who had suggested Wales had looked tired before their meeting with Ireland.
Gatland added: “It was a fantastic team performance. We didn’t look too tired, did we?
“We spoke beforehand about the players playing for themselves, their families, and being able to create a bit of history. You can never take that away from them now.
“I said if we won the first game against France we’d have a good chance of winning the whole thing and that creates a bit of belief in the players.”
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt had insisted on the Principality Stadium roof being open, but in heavy drizzle his team made a series of basic individual errors.
Schmidt said: “Maybe it was a mistake not to have closed the roof, but I would encourage the genuine supporter not to lose faith in this team. We will turn up in Japan and will have won 23 of our last 26 Tests.
“I want to take my hat off to Wales and Gats. For him to do 12 years as an international coach is remarkable. I’ve done six and it’s nearly killed me.
Ireland captain Rory Best – who played his last Six Nations game – said: “There are a couple of areas we pride ourselves on and they let us down.
“Wales got their tails up, fired the first shot, and never looked back. It’s incredibly disappointing but we have to give credit to them.”