How Pivac transformed Wales into accidental Grand Slam contenders
► With tactical tweaks starting to pay off and the emergence of Rees-zammit, team’s struggles of last year seem behind them
What to make of Wales, two matches into this year’s Six Nations, is a tricky exercise. They have won both of their opening matches, but against teams reduced to 14 men for a combined total of 92 minutes following red cards.
Their attack looks sharper than in the autumn, yet Wales sit stone last compared to the rest of the Six Nations sides so far when it comes to their average metres gained, defenders beaten, carries and clean breaks. They have the worst-performing line-out. Their scrum, fractionally up on last year, has the worst success rate.
And yet when Wales win their opening two matches in the Six Nations, with the exception of 2009, there is usually one outcome: a Grand Slam. They are one of only two unbeaten teams left in the tournament, alongside France.
The side who last year looked as though they were battling an almighty hangover trying to move on from the Warren Gatland era are now accidental contenders for the Six Nations title.
Wales have gone from winning three out of 10 Tests last year – against Georgia and Italy (twice) – to putting away Ireland and a buoyant Scotland side following their own win over England. Neither victory was especially convincing but, despite what the statistics say, there have been signs of progress, of tactics bedding in. The sludge Wales waded through last year, adapting to new systems and blooding new caps to build depth, is gradually being washed away.
There are some positive statistics. Wales are conceding fewer turnovers – coughing the ball up less – and scoring more tries, while their tackle success rate ranks second behind Scotland on 89 per cent, with the Welsh making a tournament-high average of 212 tackles per game. There is more accuracy to what they are doing, and granted, while that needs to be tested against an opponent with a full XV over 80 minutes, you can forgive Wayne Pivac, the head coach, for feeling positive about the direction of his side.
“This game, for us, will be a very good test to see that rate of improvement,” Pivac said of facing England.
“I think we’re going to need to perform well over 80 minutes to have a chance to get a result. If we have a first 25 minutes like we did in Scotland, we could be out of the game. We’re well aware of the threat England pose.
“There is pressure on us to back up two wins with a solid performance. There has been talk about 14 men v 15 men. Hopefully there will be 15 v 15 and we’ll be under pressure at times – it’s how we cope with that pressure. We welcome it. We’re wanting to improve as a side and keep building. This is the perfect opposition after a week’s rest.”
The numbers might suggest a dip in attacking production but the signs against Scotland – particularly for Liam Williams’s try, with the interplay between Callum Sheedy and Willis Halaholo – highlighted how Wales are gradually changing.
They have been boosted, of course, by Louis Rees-zammit’s emergence as a Test wing, with the 20-year-old the Six Nations’ top try scorer, while Wyn Jones’s burst of form might be enough for the Scarlets loosehead prop to be part of the Lions tour in the summer.
“We’re working on our game and getting the balance right in our own attack,” Pivac said. “You’ve seen what we’ve been doing and, at times, it hasn’t worked for us. It hasn’t been as polished as we would like. We’ve made too many errors and we haven’t been as clinical as we would like throughout the autumn.
“We think we’re slowly improving in this competition, heading in the right direction, and it was nice to score a few good tries against Scotland, but this will be a different proposition again.
“It’s certainly an ongoing process to get the balance right between field position and when to strike. It’s something we’re working on.” Win against England today, with Wales featuring a XV totalling more than 900 Test caps and England’s key players in a difficult patch, and Pivac’s side would have trips to Italy and France left on their schedule to seal a second Grand Slam in three years.
If Pivac felt under pressure last year when results were poor, or a different pressure now with Wales in contention for the title, he is not showing it.
“Honestly, I don’t feel any weight on my shoulders,” he said yesterday.
After a tough year of transition, his vision for this team is beginning to take shape.