It’s been close in the past few years... I don’t think this week will be any different WAYNE PIVAC Q&A
HERE’S everything Wales boss Wayne Pivac had to say after naming his team to face France in the Six Nations tomorrow.
Question: Gareth Davies gets the nod at scrum-half, did you consider any other changes in the backs? Wayne Pivac: We had a good think and a good look at it.
Clearly we have three quality nines and we think Gareth, who was unavailable for the first game, would be the right one to start this game.
He brings a lot of good linespeed. From a defensive point of view, it is probably where he got the nod.
We had a good look across the squad to see if we wanted to make many changes.
For some players it’s about getting back out there and having an opportunity to put some of the wrongs right from the Irish game.
Q: Ross Moriarty starts and Will Rowlands is on the bench, is that about having more power?
WP: I think Ross Moriarty has done well off the bench and trained very well behind the scenes.
Aaron had a big World Cup and played a lot of rugby since then. He probably, by his standards, hasn’t been as involved in games as we would have liked and he would have liked.
They just swap roles this week, he’ll get into the game and hopefully he’ll have a big impact on the weekend.
Will Rowlands – we asked all three second rows to go and play club footy last weekend. We’re looking very closely at that position.
We put it on them to put their hand up for selection and he gets an opportunity this week.
Q: How different are France under Fabien Galthie and Shaun Edwards?
WP: If you look at the fixtures in the last few years, they’ve been close affairs. I don’t think this week will be any different.
They’ve started very well in this competition with a great win over
England and backed it up with a fivepointer against Italy.
They come full of confidence. We’ve had two weeks to prepare for this game. It’s been about us wanting to get back out there, right some of the wrongs from the Ireland game.
We know we’ve got a better performance in us. We’re very pleased to be back at home, with a sell out crowd, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.
Q: Can you tell us about Dan Biggar’s fitness and the testing process he’s had to go through?
He’s gone through the regular process and passed those with flying colours.
We’ve also gone to a world leading expert in concussion, who he’s seen previously at the World Cup. Every precaution has been taken.
He’s come through it and been cleared to play. He’s good to go and trained very well this week.
WP: We’re working solidly on our scrum and Jon (Humphreys) is doing a really good job.
We’re looking to paint good pictures, we want to be squeaky clean there and not give teams ins through penalties at the scrum.
We’re working very hard.
I think we saw a big improvement against Ireland, apart from one scrum we’ve scrummaged very well.
In hindsight, we’ve had a report back that maybe that decision went the wrong way.
So, we’re quite comfortable with the work we’re doing behind the scenes and I think we’re in a pretty good space there with young guys who, I think, have big futures.
WP: I think [Sir] Tom [Jones] is tied up with The Voice so we couldn’t use him!
We’ve got some pretty big characters in our group at the moment in Warby, he’s a two-time Lions captain and is there on a daily basis talking to the boys in a quiet way that he does.
We’ve got Martyn Williams here as well with 100 caps for his country. They’re here in the background doing their thing but probably not quite as publicly.
Q: What have you spoken about putting right?
WP: Certainly our exits. I think we let in a couple of tries through not being able to exit and that’s when we’re in control of the game.
One scrum and one lineout, we threw it to the opposition, they get the ball, a few phases later they score in the corner and get a bonus point.
The exit just after we scored, we dropped the ball five metres out from our line, allowing them the scrum and they built pressure from that scrum and scored a try.
Certainly, we’re looking at our exits, making sure we have a play-by-play mentality and that we’re tuned into that play, everyone understands their role and we execute those roles.
It’s just being more clinical when we’ve got the ball, whether it’s coming out of our territory or in the opposition half.
Q: With Shaun Edwards in the opposition ranks, have you got to scrap any plays from last year? WP: It’s really looking at the breakdown. We know Shaun likes the boys to go heavy at the breakdown and really attack there. CJ Stander got a couple against us. We’ve got to make sure we look after it.
The ball carrier has to do a bit more with the ball and we don’t get any separation between the support players and the ball carrier, so that we don’t allow those jackalers to get in over the ball.
We’ve done a bit of work on that over the last couple of weeks to make sure we can retain our possession.
Q: France are challenging for the title for the first time in a few years, how much more do you think they can be tested?
WP: I think this Saturday is a big test for both teams. It’s a very big test.
For us it’s to keep us alive in the Championship and for France, it’s their first game away.
It will be interesting to see how both teams approach the game but from our point of view, it’s to keep ourselves alive and we are looking for a very big performance.