Alun Wyn: We’ll go to new level for England

ALUN Wyn Jones told Wales to go to another level if they want to beat England and keep their Grand Slam dream alive as Louis Rees-Zammit inspired Wayne Pivac’s side in Scotland.

Wales are now two from two in the 2021 Six Nations and their bonus-point, 25-24 win at BT Murrayfield took them to the top of the pile as they again made the most of an opposition dismissal.

Wales beat a 14-man Ireland side on the opening weekend and again benefitted from a red card in Edinburgh as Scotland prop Zander Fagerson was dismissed.

Wales still inched home by the narrowest of margins thanks to a brace from man-of-the-match ReesZammit.

Jones said: “I’m pleased with the resilience, character and pride in the jersey we’re still showing.

“Irrelevant of the man advantage, I’d like to think we were in the ascendancy before the card.

“We’re aware England had a good win and are back on track. We’ll be back at Principality so we’ll regroup and improve on the parts we need to.”

Wales scored through a double from star man ReesZammit, Liam Williams and Wyn Jones.

Gloucester wing ReesZammit, just 20, said: “It’s hard to come up here and get a win.

“It wasn’t a pretty one, but thank God we did it.”

On his second try which saw him kick ahead and collect to score, ReesZammit added: “I just tried to use my gas and get on the outside. I saw there was no cover in the back field so I put a kick over the fullback and I got the bounce.

“I’ve settled in really well with this team and they’re all helping me. I’m loving being here and playing on this stage.”

Alun Wyn Jones added: “Louis has been playing well for Gloucester in the Premiership. I’d heard a lot about him and seen a lot of highlights of him. Hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Alun Wyn Jones and Pivac agreed Fagerson had to see red. Jones said: “I feel for Zander, but as players we all have to follow the remit and we’ve got to be careful ourselves moving forward now because I’m sure the microscope will be on us.”

Pivac added: “There is nothing else the officials can do. The laws are pretty clear cut now.”

Wales lost Leigh Halfpenny to a head injury.

Asked about Fagerson’s red card, Scotland captain Hogg said: “It would be wrong of me to single out one man. We talked about discipline before the game and that’s something which let us down. It hurts now, but it’s vital we learn from it.”

Hogg added: “We’re bitterly disappointed. We were in control of that game for large parts and were the dominant side, particularly in the first half. Then we had a little bit of ill-discipline.

“To give away a couple of penalties is fine, but four on the bounce is unacceptable and we allowed them to go from one end of the field to the other and score.

“You can’t let a team like Wales have cheap field position because they’re going to punish you. We’ve got to take it on the chin, get on with it, and learn from our poor discipline.”

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said: “When you go to 14 men for 25 minutes it’s going to be more difficult. When you give away penalties that lead to points, that’s obviously not helping your chances of winning either. We did those two things during the game.”