Title relief for Pivac after ‘sickening’ Slam setback
WAYNE PIVAC admitted that Wales had been on an ‘emotional rollercoaster’ before reaching their destination and being crowned Six Nations champions.
And the Wales head coach also recounted a ‘sickening feeling’ of seeing Wales’ Grand Slam hopes being ended by France in the dying seconds of a pulsating Paris encounter.
It meant Les Bleus had a chance of denying Wales the title on Friday, but Wales’ sixth Six Nations championship success was confirmed after Scotland defied the odds and beat France.
‘It was an emotional rollercoaster the last seven days,’ Wales head coach Pivac said. ‘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.
‘To lose it in the last play of the game was devastating.
‘Then we didn’t know if it was good enough to win the championship. Waiting (almost) seven days for that match and then having to go through that match with so many moments that kept us on our toes.
‘The last week, it probably took me until Wednesday or Thursday to really want to come out of the house, purely from the point of view that it was a sickening feeling for the players who had worked so hard.
‘We desperately wanted that Grand Slam for so many reasons, for the hard work that went in, the style of rugby we played, and to win that way would have been fantastic, but we really wanted to do it for the people of Wales.’
Wales are now just one behind England in terms of overall Six Nations title triumphs. Their sixth and latest success came after a poor 2020 when they won just three Test matches – beating Italy, twice, and Georgia.