New man’s big impact at Wales
JONATHAN Davies has hailed the impact of Wales’ Englishman-in-residence Alex King prior to their RBS 6 Nations opener against Italy today.
Former Wasps and England fly-half King will spend this season’s tournament seconded to Wales as attack coach, working alongside interim boss Rob Howley.
And Wales centre Davies says that King, who will join French Top 14 club Montpellier’s coaching staff later this year, has made a mark.
“In the autumn Tests, if you look at how we performed, we had a couple of grey areas – whether it was the time for backs to attack or to work the forwards in certain areas,” he said.
“It’s just the clarity in those grey areas, when we weren’t sure whether it was time for us, as a backline to go, or the forwards.
“He has put faith in us as a backline, and it is down to us to make good decisions on the field.
“Alex has come in, he has refreshed it and he’s just given us a licence to play what is in front of us and back ourselves. He has given us a lot of confidence to go out and play.
“He has been very enjoyable to work with, and he is a fresh face. He has a new look on things, and, hopefully, that will help us build and keep moving forward.”
If Wales maintain their recent rate of scoring against Italy – 128 points in the last two Six Nations Tests – then King will certainly rate this weekend as a case of mission accomplished.
With bonus points now on offer in the Six Nations – and Wales needing to make a flying start ahead of next weekend’s Cardiff showdown against England – King’s charges will relish any chance to cut loose.
Rain is forecast in Rome for today, though, which might dampen things as an attacking spectacle, while Italy also go into battle following a stunning and historic victory over South Africa less than three months ago as new coaching supremo Conor O’Shea made an immediate impression.