Gatland lauds gutsy Wales
3 Feb 2008
New Wales coach Warren Gatland showered glowing praise on his charges for their dramatic comeback against England.
It was Wales’ first win at Twickenham since 1988, but trailing 16-6 at half-time and 19-6 with 22 minutes to go, England looked to be getting their campaign off to the perfect start.
“The message to the players at the end of the first half was just to hang in there and show a bit of character,” Gatland said. “The pleasing thing was that we played smart and the longer the game went on, the stronger we got, which was very surprising.”
Gatland, however, was reluctant to make early predictions about how Wales would fare in the Six Nations. “It doesn’t happen overnight, physically or technically but we showed a few things in the second half,” he said.
“The potential and raw material for this team is there and this was certainly a monkey off the guys’ back and should give us back a bit of self-belief.
“Rugby is not just about the tactics but what’s in the head and heart. These guys showed a lot of guts, they dug deep and had to really earn everything in the second half. They were under pressure but came out and never gave in.”
Wales captain Ryan Jones was optimistic that they may have turned the corner after a dismal 2007.
“I think we matured as a group in the second half and to do something like that in an arena like this shows we are on the verge of something very good.”
Ashton refused to blame second half injuries to Lewis Moody and Mike Tindall for their collapse, saying they still had enough experienced players on the park to see off the Wales challenge.
“I can’t explain it; it’s something we need to talk about but the players are very well aware of what happened,” he said. “Wales did exceptionally well to come back but I’m not convinced they had to work desperately hard to score those two tries.
“I was disappointed that we were only 19-6 up. The halftime message was more of the same so we don’t let Wales back into the game.
“I actually think in the first half England played as well as they had for some years from an attacking point of view but obviously didn’t maintain that in the second half and we paid the price for it.
“One of our key messages before the game was not to feed them (the Welsh backs) but we were pretty good at that in the second half when we took all our food out of the cupboard.”
35 Comments
3 Feb 2008, 07:04 am
Go the Kiwi
3 Feb 2008, 07:46 am
The Saders only beat the Farce 12-7
3 Feb 2008, 07:53 am
Congrats Superbul on your prediction
3 Feb 2008, 07:57 am
3 woops. That was the Ireland game
3 Feb 2008, 08:10 am
Chch
You know what they say about folk who taak to themselves …
3 Feb 2008, 08:17 am
5 Princess,
Waat?
3 Feb 2008, 08:21 am
Wales should be able to get 2nd now
3 Feb 2008, 08:23 am
Have you heard about the idea to include a LA side in the Super 14?
Someone must have read my comment about LA being th largest Polynesian city in the world
3 Feb 2008, 08:35 am
That would be a damn good idea chch. We need to expand rugby into america if we want to develop the game further. It would do a hell of a lot of the sport
3 Feb 2008, 08:43 am
Tricky for air travel in a league. The S14 would pretty much cover the clock
3 Feb 2008, 08:44 am
Chch
Head of American Rugby Union is a kiwi
Quoted today as saying AB v USA or AB v Ireland woud draw the biggest crowds there.
3 Feb 2008, 08:45 am
Nov 01 is that date set for the AB game in HKG
3 Feb 2008, 08:57 am
They should get the world league thing working on an International basis (as already proposed) and then get the same working for a Super 16.
4 NZ sides
4 SA
3 Aus
1 Pacific Island (Tonga, Fiji, Somoa, LA and Auckland)
2 US
2 Argentina
The US and Canada will have enough sponsorship backing to get Southern hemisphere players and stop them going to Europe. Canadian players could play in the US too.
After the club stuff we can play 2 intrnational comps in 2 groups of 4. Top group NZ, SA, Aus, Argentina …. bottom group Fiji, Tonga, Somoa and USA.
Just an idea
3 Feb 2008, 09:01 am
12 princess,
What is the HK game?
3 Feb 2008, 09:13 am
Lovely to see Wales do a trick they haven’t done for 20 years at Twickers. What a turn around…what a fight. England crumbled like apple pie. Balshaw will never play for England again. He’s definitely toast! Jonny Wilko had a brain **** too.
Brian Ashton’s face said it all. Stunned by the heart of Wales…their willingness to give everything for it. The Poms I’m afraid were reduced to burnt marshmallows.
Well done Wales…well done Warren Gatland.
3 Feb 2008, 09:34 am
#8
CHCH
What,the bloody poaching yanks,England and now the yanks are poaching,what the hell is this world comin to.
3 Feb 2008, 10:44 am
Ashton says:”They played as well as they had for some years…”. Was he watching the same match? They were dreadful, for the amount of ball they had, they should have been at least 20 up at HT. No finishing skills, unable to regroup after the errors were made… where do they go from here? Will Brian Ashton keep his job? Will Jake’s phone be ringing later today with another offer????
3 Feb 2008, 10:46 am
This team was completely different to the World Cup team.
There were 7 (yes, SEVEN) different players on the field compared to the world cup final
Robinson, Catt, Cueto, Easter, Corry, Kay (Borthwick), Tait were all injured/retired.
From the WC bench Worsley was injured, Richards injured and Dallaglio retired.
Then during the GAME, Moody injured, Rees injured, Strettle injured, Tindall injured, Kay was playing 6, Cipriani at 13
We almost had no one left by the end.
The WC was no fluke and we need to get those players fit again.
3 Feb 2008, 11:00 am
Chch
HKG game is ABs v Wobblies
3 Feb 2008, 11:39 am
Big Hit,
Don’t worry about the game. AS funny as it was, England will play a whole lot better.
3 Feb 2008, 12:04 pm
and they are playing in HK for what?
make money?
3 Feb 2008, 12:06 pm
re: Wales
lets all not jump to conclusions
3 Feb 2008, 12:23 pm
G13G,
Is there something wrong with “money”?
If so since when?
3 Feb 2008, 12:24 pm
Quite right Big Hit. The world cup was no fluke seeing as you didn’t win it. The quarter final and semi final on the other hand were huge flukes.
3 Feb 2008, 12:47 pm
G13
Just spreading the love … of Rugby
3 Feb 2008, 12:59 pm
#24
lol
3 Feb 2008, 13:29 pm
I’m gonna disagree with you there chch. I think NZ have proven that they can give at least five very good teams, if not six. Same goes for South Africa…
I’d rather be looking at a much larger tournament that is divided into two divisions. The top two from each then face each other in the semi-finals. Or possibly even the top 4 from each in a quarter-final.
To include a Paficic Island team would probably not make any financial sense so I wouldn’t be keen on the idea.
3 Feb 2008, 13:54 pm
ABs vs SA in Dubai next??
its a joke, the Abs will play in HK BUT have never played a test in say Samoa?
money money money
3 Feb 2008, 16:42 pm
London – England’s rugby union team was labelled a group of “flops” after losing their opening Six Nations match to Wales 26-19 by newspapers perplexed at their dramatic collapse towards the match end.
Wales were trailing 10 points with 20 minutes to go at Twickenham in London, but went on to score two tries to record their first victory at the stadium for 20 years.
“So Much For The New Look England” read the headline in the Mail on Sunday, which labelled the team “Six Nations flops” and said they were “humiliated” by Wales.
The paper contrasted England’s performance with their relative success at the World Cup last year, when they reached the final only to lose to South Africa.
“What was supposed to be the start of a brave new dawn for England, World Cup runners-up less than four months ago, ended in a nightmare,” it said.
“Welsh Wonders” was the headline in The Sunday Times, which labelled England’s second-half performance a “horror show”.
England lost five players to injury in the match but the paper said that this alone could not excuse the side’s performance.
“Wales did a roaring trade in injured players themselves and there is no excuse for the lack of composure shown by the home side towards the end or the lack of leadership as Wales came steaming back,” it added.
In the Sunday Telegraph, former England stalwart Paul Ackford pointed the finger of blame at senior England players including Jonny Wilkinson and captain Phil Vickery, who he said had committed a series of blunders.
“Wales will still be wondering what they did to achieve the victory,” Ackford wrote.
“At no stage of this game, apart from the final 10 minutes when they exerted some pressure, did they look in control.”
The News of the World tabloid, meanwhile, singled out Iain Balshaw for particular criticism — its headline was “What A Bals-Up”.
A clearance kick by Balshaw was charged down by Mike Phillips, triggering a sequence which led to a crucial Wales try.
In the wake of this, England were “rudderless and desperate for someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck,” the paper said.
“But no one was up to it and it is back to the drawing board for head coach Brian Ashton and his coaching team.” – Sapa-AFP
3 Feb 2008, 17:08 pm
# 29
Flops…I like that.
At half time England thought they had it in the bag and never dreamed of Wales rubbing their noses in Corgi pooh. Hehehe…funny ole game innit?
3 Feb 2008, 21:19 pm
#28
Comon now greatest,its a professional sport,its all about money.When was the last time SA played at Kenya?
4 Feb 2008, 02:40 am
greatest13gerber
Money money money is quite right you %*&# !
Samoa are invited to play in NZ because they are handed ALL the gate takings (from clearly a MUCH larger crowd who also pay a higher ticket price) which they bring home to further the game in Samoa.
You some relative of Biggles ?
4 Feb 2008, 07:57 am
More Princess
4 Feb 2008, 07:58 am
Please translate %*&# Princess
4 Feb 2008, 08:19 am
I have added the last two Welsh tries as a video clip on my website, click on my name if you want to have a look.
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.