Pivac: We will keep fine tuning but we’re measuring up nicely

WAYNE Pivac admits it took him until Wednesday to recover from Wales’ Grand Slam heartbreak, but he now believes the future is bright after sealing the Six Nations title.

The trophy was packed up at the Stade de France and shipped off to Cardiff after Scotland’s last gasp victory ensured a maiden Championship title for the Wales head coach.

The triumph silenced Pivac’s doubters and justified his decision to move away from Warren Gatland’s tried and tested game plan that had brought unprecedented success.

Now Pivac believes his exciting Welsh side are on the right path to the Rugby World Cup in 2023.

“We like to keep a lot of that stuff to ourselves. It took me to about Wednesday to really want to come out of the house,” he said. “Purely from the point of view that it was a sickening feeling for the players.

“We desperately wanted that Grand Slam for so many reasons. It was really hard to take. But the sun does come up in the morning.

“It was an emotional rollercoaster the last seven days because 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 that game – but it wasn’t to be.

“Then we didn’t know if it was good enough to win the Championship and we had to wait seven days.

“We aren’t the finished product; we will keep on improving and fine tuning. We’re measuring up quite nicely.

“As you’ve seen in this Six Nations, Scotland have improved, Ireland have improved, and England beat the French so there are no easy games, and the Rugby World Cup is going to be the ultimate for us.”

Pivac was under intense pressure after registering only a single win in his debut Six Nations campaign before a disappointing Autumn Nations Cup that included comprehensive home defeats to

Ireland and England.

Defence coach Byron Hayward left the Welsh setup and some thought Pivac was set to follow him, but he has masterminded a stunning recovery to complete Wales’ latest Championship triumph.

Pivac believes keeping the faith in his rugby philosophy has been the key to making the breakthrough with his evolving team.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the team,” he said. “It’s just having faith in the people around you.

“We laid out a plan to the Rugby World Cup at the start of this tenure and we’ve stuck to that, and I’ve been regularly updating my board. It’s just knowing you have the support and that’s been evident all the way through.

“I know the rugby public hurt when we don’t win a Test match, just like how we hurt, that’s expected. But moments like this make up for the bad times.”

Pivac was expecting to travel to Argentina to face Los Pumas and Uruguay and blood more Welsh talent during the British and Irish Lions summer.

He still believes he will get that chance but admits the plans to travel across the Atlantic may change.

“First we have the Lions which Warren will select, and I’d like to think we’ll get a good representation there,” he added. “That leads us to the summer tour which is going to be an opportunity to blood more players, get another look at some of those players, from the autumn, make sure we’re building the depth.

“We want to have a ranking system in Wales where we’re comfortable from one to five in every position.”