Gatland the grave
‘LOSING BECOMES A HABIT’ AS WALES DEMOLISHED BY SCOTS
WHERE do Wales go from here? Two 30-point drubbings in a row have left them down among the dead men in the Six Nations and fighting to find any sort of team to take to the World Cup.
After conceding four tries against a rampant Ireland in Cardiff, Warren Gatland’s reshaped side were walloped again, and to a record margin, by a Scottish side that can still hope for a Triple Crown and Grand Slam.
The 28-point defeat was the biggest winning margin Scotland had enjoyed over Wales since fixtures began in 1883, and the 35 points they scored matched their previous highest total against Wales, in 1924.
For Gatland it was a first defeat as Wales coach against the boys in blue in what was his 12th game against them.
His older players had not met his standards against the Irish and in this game his young guns came up short as well.
“We gave away 19 penalties and that is not acceptable. We also spent six minutes in their 22 and didn’t come away with much, which is pretty disappointing,” said Gatland.
“This is one of the strongest Scottish sides I’ve seen and they are playing with confidence. Sometimes winning becomes a habit, the problem is that so does losing.
“We just have to stay tight and find a way to get through this. At half-time we talked about putting them under pressure in their 22. We had some strong carries, but then got turned over.
“We were probably guilty of playing a bit too much rugby in the middle third and we only kicked the ball 23 times. That was the same as against Ireland, yet both of them kicked significantly more than us.”
Wales were very much in the game at the break after hitting back with a try by skipper Ken Owens, converted off the touchline by Dan Biggar, having been 13-0 down.
Then the second half turned into the Finn Russell show as he conjured up two tries for Kyle Steyn and then ran proceedings as the Scots turned on the style to score five tries in total with Blair Kinghorn and Matt Fagerson joining the party.
George Turner had scored the firsthalf try for the hosts.
“People called for changes and we did that. Now they’ll be doing the same again – sometimes it’s a loselose situation,” added Gatland.
“I thought Dafydd Jenkins was good and Christ Tshiunza carried hard. That was very positive and I was happy with their performances.”
Skipper Owens is still waiting for his first win in the role and he wants the team to stay tight over the next two weeks as they build towards a home game with England.
“We had a lot of changes in the pack and I thought the boys there really showed their potential of where we are trying to go,” said Owens.
“We had a really good first-half performance and we were a lot better and a bit unlucky not to go in ahead at half-time.
“If you give a team like Scotland a sniff they are going to punish you – especially when they are full of confidence after the win against England. That’s what happened in the second half, because we made some back-to-back errors and allowed them to come at us.
“But it is early days, with new coaching staff, new players and we just need to work hard and, hopefully, turn a corner in the game against England.”
SCOTLAND: Tries: Turner, Steyn (2), Kinghorn, Fagerson; Cons: Russell (2); Pens: Russell (2)
WALES: Try: Owens; Con: Biggar
People will call for changes again ... sometimes that’s
a lose-lose