Frustrated Pivac labels Wales mistakes ‘unacceptable’

Wayne Pivac acknowledged Wales had conceded an “unacceptable” level of turnovers after he suffered his first defeat as head coach against Ireland in the Six Nations.

Ireland recorded a 24-14 bonus-point victory in Dublin on Saturday which ended Wales’ hopes of winning consecutive Grand Slams.

An error-strewn display saw the visitors make 17 handling errors and Pivac admitted their opponents were worthy winners, Tomos Williams and Justin Tipuric having scored his side’s only tries.

“There were just too many turnovers when we were in good positions on the field,” Pivac said.

“We turned the ball over eight times through handling, that is unacceptable at this level of the game.

“There were inaccuracies in their 22 and we let them off the hook a couple of times. The difference was when they got down there they were very accurate and scored the tries that we weren’t able to.

“We have got to be very accurate in our passing game, it’s something we will need to go away and work on. You are not able to build that constant pressure which Ireland were able to do when they scored a couple of their tries.

“Some of the handling errors, we will go and look at them. They weren’t always under pressure. Some of it was skill execution. But the Irish deserved to win this game.”

Wales centre Hadleigh Parkes had a try disallowed by the TMO in the second half when he just lost control of the ball as he stretched for the try-line.

Pivac added: “It was a big decision, but the decision was right. He didn’t have control, so we didn’t get rewarded with the points.

“It wasn’t through a lack of effort. With 20 minutes to go, it’s game on at that point if it’s scored.”

“This is a tournament and we’ve got another three games to look forward to. We’ll work hard to the get the areas right that we need to.” – Wayne Pivac.

Next up: , 22nd Feb, @principalitysta . #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/0LQ9Jz5P4O

— Welsh Rugby Union  (@WelshRugbyUnion) February 8, 2020

Ahead of their next clash at home to France, Wales have fitness concerns over in-form wing Josh Adams, who left the match in the first half, while fly-half Dan Biggar came off early in the second period.

Biggar failed a head injury assessment, a fate he also suffered twice at the Rugby World Cup.

“Dan failed a HIA so he’ll go through the normal protocol there,” said Pivac. “Josh had a knock to a hip so he will be getting that checked.”

And he added of the defeat: “It’s an opportunity for us to have a look at our game. We were put under pressure and we will see where we have to work harder to make sure we get those things right for the next match.

“It is a tournament and we’ve got another three matches to look forward to. We’ll be working very hard to get the areas right that we need to so we can put on a better performance next time around.

“So we have to go away and work hard at our game and make sure we are a little bit better in those areas for the French game.”

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