Forget hammering Wales, we’re two wins from two and we can beat England

WARREN Gatland’s Wales have come under fire for a stuttering performance in Rome, with some writing off their chances of winning the Six Nations.

But is the criticism justified or will the Welsh team confound the cynics by beating England in two weeks and set up a march towards the title?

MATTHEW SOUTHCOMBE, our man with Wales during their stay in France and Italy, argues it is time for cool heads and perspective. Here is his verdict at the end of trip that has seen Wales emerge victorious from games in Paris and Rome and spend a week preparing on the Cote D’Azur...

IT has been said that there are two things we can’t handle in Wales – one is failure, the other is success.

Where, then, does that leave us after Wales’ win over Italy in Rome?

As the reaction suggests, Wales is a nation that demands the very best from those who don the red jersey, whatever the circumstances. That is, of course, fair enough. But there also needs to be a certain level of rationale.

There have been some questioning if Wales will win another game in the Six Nations, let alone the Championship itself.

In my view, the bigger picture needs to be looked at.

The team Warren Gatland fielded against Italy did not look capable of winning the Six Nations – but that’s missing the point.

Consider this: Wales made 10 changes to the starting line-up and fielded a pack that was short of leaders and experience, with Alun Wyn Jones on the bench and Ken Owens watching from the stands with Justin Tipuric.

They had a new captain, new half-backs and two players making their Six Nations debuts.

Sure, there were five, possibly six players in the line-up who may well start against England. Liam Williams, Josh Adams, Jonathan Davies, Josh Navidi and potentially Adam Beard and Dan Biggar.

Yet still there was enough selection upheaval for Wales to be cut a little more slack by those queueing up to condemn what they saw in Rome.

There was a time when making such changes to the side may have resulted in an embarrassing defeat and we’d all be having even more different conversations today.

Many, including myself, expected Wales to steamroll the Azzurri, but it didn’t come to pass. C’est la vie, we move on.

Though Wales weren’t running in tries from all corners of Rome, they still never looked like losing the game and came through its crucial moments to make sure they were on the right side of the scoreboard come the final whistle.

Previously Wales have been criticised for playing well but losing. The old adage of professional sport being all about results was used as a stick to beat them with.

Well, Wales are now on an 11game winning run – equalling a record set in 1910 – and, reading some of the more vitriolic criticism, the players must be wondering what more they can do.

Let’s get one thing straight: Wales are not exempt from criticism simply because they won. Their performance was far from polished and pundits and punters alike have every right to point that out.

But given the number of changes made, given Wales are two from two in the Six Nations, now surely isn’t the time for ripping to shreds their credentials as Championship contenders.

If this were a normal year, Gatland would have fielded a much stronger side and Wales would probably have won by 30 points. But this is not a normal year, there is a World Cup to consider and Gatland had to find out more about his fringe players. The fact Wales, with so many secondstring players, can get the job done in the Six Nations is reason to be optimistic in my opinion, not pessimistic.

To suggest off the back of that performance that Wales are on a hiding to nothing against England in two weeks’ time is disingenuous.

The cavalry will return to the starting line-up and everybody’s levels of performance will go through the roof.

Then, of course, there is the little matter of the Cardiff factor.

Gatland often claims that Wales get better the longer they spend together and he’s right.

Wales will get another two weeks of training under their belts and the very fact that it will be England coming to Cardiff means everybody’s levels of alertness will be heightened.

There isn’t any need to get too uptight about a stuttering win over Italy when the side that will run out at the Principality Stadium will look so different to the one in Rome.

Wales are traditionally slow starters and they were awful in the first 40 at the Stade de France. That was the more concerning display because all the big hitters were on show, yet they came through it to win.

A weakened side was asked difficult questions at the Stadio Olimpico, yet they too emerged victorious. Despite the unconvincing nature of the performances, my belief is that Wales’ first-choice side – the one that will face England – is very capable of winning this tournament. I guess we’ll know more about whether that is indeed the case in two weeks’ time.