PIVAC SAYS HE IS LOOKING AT THE BIGGER PICTURE
WAYNE Pivac has hit back at criticism over Wales’ inconsistent form after their embarrassing defeat to Italy, adding that few will care if they succeed at next year’s Rugby World Cup.
His time in charge of Wales has bounced between lows and highs, with last year’s Six Nations triumph following a losing autumn run. Now, though, Wales have slumped to a fifth-place finish in the Six Nations and recorded a first defeat to Italy in 15 years. But Pivac has urged fans to look at the big picture with the Rugby World Cup taking place next year in France.
“If we go to the World Cup and get through the quarter-finals, win a quarter-final and get through to the semi-final, everyone will be happy,” Pivac said after Wales’ stunning 21-22 defeat in Cardiff.
“We’re not going to lose focus on what the big goal is here and what the big picture is.
“Yes, today is a bitter pill to swallow for everybody. We have to learn from the performance and get better. I’m hoping we take a step forward in the summer against the world champions in their backward [in South Africa], which is going to be a challenge.
“We go there with an idea of how far we are from the world champions 12 months out from a World Cup. So it’s not a bad place to be when you look at it from that point of view. We’re gutted with the result. No one is happy with a performance like that, especially when you give away 12 points through discipline in the first half, score three tries in the second half, get across the line, have moments where we could have pinned them back but let them slip. That’s pretty frustrating for everyone.”
On another day when Wales flattered to deceive, Pivac dodged suggestions that it is hard to see what Wales are building towards. He also claimed Wales had managed to put in “three really good performances” in this year’s tournament, referring to the win over Scotland and narrow defeats to England and France.
“I think everyone was pretty happy with the Six Nations last year and the way we were heading,” he added. “Coming into the competition, some people in the media had us down for fourth, battling it out with Scotland. We had three really good performances in this competition and two we’re not proud of.
|”It’s not the complete competition and we’ll get criticism for it, rightly so. Regardless of the team we put out for this, we believe we’re capable of winning this match. That’s not arrogant, that’s just being realistic. We just need to keep working hard behind the scenes, which we will be doing. We look towards the summer and then it’s into a World Cup season.”
Here’s what else the Wales coach had to say...
QUESTION: WAS IT A QUESTION OF BEING UNSURE HOW TO CLOSE OUT A NARROW WIN WHILE STILL LOOKING FOR A BONUS POINT?
Wayne Pivac: “We were definitely looking to win the game and achieve the goal of four tries.
“We had numerous opportunities to do that and a mixture of some very, very strong defence from Italy and errors from ourselves meant we weren’t able to get over the line.
Ultimately, that was part of our downfall.”
Q: WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WYN JONES’ DISALLOWED TRY?
WP: “I think it’s in the wording, isn’t it? On-field no try. I thought he got across the line. He’s a big man and the ball is underneath him. If the ball didn’t touch a blade of grass, I’d be very surprised.
“However, when you ask an inexperienced TMO to have a look at it with no try on the field, the decision was no try. That’s frustrating but we still should have been better and got over the line.”
Q: HOW DO YOU REFLECT ON FIFTH PLACE, A YEAR AFTER WINNING THE TITLE?
WP: “Very disappointing. A lot has happened since last year, that’s well documented. But we had an opportunity here. We came here with a goal of getting third which would have been a superb effort from the boys after round one. We’ve talked about it on the pitch and we’ll review it afterwards. We have to make sure that a performance like that, which is an unacceptable performance, doesn’t happen again.”
Q: DAN BIGGAR SAID IT WAS A LAST CHANCE FOR SOME. IS THAT THE CASE AND HOW DOES THAT RAMP UP THE PRESSURE ON THE SQUAD NOW?
WP: “We’re not too worried about that pressure, it comes with the territory. It’s an emotional time after a game, especially when you haven’t played well but got in a position to win. When you don’t close it out and Italy score with the last play - well, with over a minute to go but that’s a different story about whether we get the kick-off or not.
“Dan is very frustrated. He’s a guy who has put so much into the jersey over the years. Let’s not forget the milestone he’s achieved today, and Alun Wyn. Clearly, he’s going to be disappointed. We’ll review this game and look at why we didn’t get over the line and win it.”