Scots are scarlet as Gatland’s Wales paint the town red with emphatic victory
HAPPY anniversary, Warren Gatland. Judging by the Wales coach’s reaction, this victory wrapped in Scarletcoloured paper was the perfect way to mark his 10th year in the job.
His players delivered an emphatic display borne out of west Wales, leaving Scotland with a familiar sinking feeling.
All of Wales’ points came from Scarlets players, with full-back Leigh Halfpenny dominating the scoreboard to leave Gatland dreaming of a fourth Six Nations crown in a decade.
‘It was an afternoon I was expecting,’ said Gatland. ‘There was definitely a quiet confidence in the squad and we went into the game expecting to win reasonably comfortably. I told the chief executive that I thought we’d win by 20 points at the team run and he was shocked, but that’s how well we’ve trained.’
Next week’s game at
Twickenham no longer looks like a one-sided contest. Wales played with verve and swerve, channelling the fancy-free style which has made the Scarlets this year’s darlings of Europe.
They exposed Scotland’s fragile core, unpicking their defence and shattering their confidence.
‘Getting Scotland up first at home was great for us to get off to a winning start,’ said Gatland. ‘The draw has been great for us with England and Ireland away. Next week we’ll go to Twickenham, where we’ve had a lot of success in the last 10 years, and we’re looking forward to it.’
Within 12 minutes another year of expectation had descended into one more false dawn for the Scots. Some wayward kicking by Gareth Davies made for a helter-skelter opening but the visitors were stifled at the breakdown by Josh Navidi and Aaron Shingler.
In a breathless exchange, Davies picked off Ali Price’s pass and the scrum-half sprinted 55 metres to score the opening try. Scotland’s sense of optimism had gone.
So much for stodgy northern hemisphere rugby. Wales were prepared to attack from deep, with No10 Rhys Patchell running the show with his daring ambition. The home pack won the physical battle and nullified the turnover threat of No7 Hamish Watson at the breakdown.
‘We were miles below what we know we’re capable of,’ said Scotland coach Gregor Townsend. ‘We should be criticised. Wales sapped our confidence and we weren’t accurate enough.’
With Liam Williams, Sam Warburton, Toby Faletau, Jonathan Davies, Rhys Webb, Dan Biggar and George North all unavailable, Wales had already been written off.
But Gatland is the master of the siege mentality, with Halfpenny among the Welshmen with the biggest point to prove, scoring his first try since 2013 to help double the lead.
Townsend’s fresh-faced Scots were chasing the game, dropping the ball close to the line just before the break.
Halfpenny kicked two more penalties shortly after the break and the red-hot Welsh attack started to purr. Suddenly, ‘WarrenBall’ seemed like a relic of a bygone era – although a more physical and direct approach may be needed against stronger opposition.
Scotland were pinned back by the Welsh kicking game and, off an attacking lineout, Halfpenny took his points tally towards 24 with another try out wide.
Another Scarlet, replacement prop Wyn Jones, had a late try disallowed before Steff Evans sealed the rout. The Scarlets reached fever pitch – and a late consolation from Pete Horne could not stop Cardiff from being painted a crimson shade of red.