All of our coaching staff were involved in the 2012 grand slam and they will have the players believing their hard work will deliver what they deserve on SaturdayWales will need to save their best for last against an Ireland team who have yet to hit top form, but I cannot see them losing. They have been criticised for not showing much attacking flair, but it is defence that wins tournaments and the way they held on at Murrayfield last weekend showed the character of a resilient side. Related: Wales unchanged for crucial Six Nations finale against Ireland I would love to be involved on Saturday having been in the squads for years, but to be successful you have to...
Scotland’s players were like flies hitting a windshield in the first half but the Wales coach was right to be relieved by the endWhen it was all over, the wonder was that Wales got away with it. They may have been nine points up at half-time but they came under intolerable pressure afterwards and it seemed they had to break before it. Scotland came at them with everything they had, on and on, again and again, and yet somehow, at the end of it all, Wales were seven points clear and one game closer to winning the grand slam. Warren Gatland said he felt as if his team had forgotten how to lose after they came back from 16-0 down...
A lack of freedom and adaptability in Eddie Jones’s gameplan allowed Wales to emerge victorious in CardiffThe truth shall set you free. As a coach I have thought a lot about the Wales against England game in the last round of the Six Nations and in particular, England’s lack of a Plan B. In itself, Plan B is a bit of an untidy phrase. Like an “in case of emergency, smash the glass” kinda of plan. That wasn’t what England lacked. It wasn’t an emergency when the tactics needed to change, just a need to adjust their bearings and find space and opportunity somewhere else to gain back the momentum. Find the scruff of the neck and give it a...
England should finish strongly but Ireland and their rusty half-backs look as if they peaked last yearAs Warren Gatland says, they have forgotten how to lose and it is amazing the way they are able to ramp up their performance levels when they need to. That comes down to the coaching staff and their ability to manipulate their players’ emotions, get them to a point and keep them there. It’s 12 wins a row, they will be absolutely thrilled by that and I think the fallow week comes at the perfect time for them. I know Alun Wyn Jones said they wanted to play this week, they didn’t want to lose the momentum, but my question would be can they...
Wales, England and Ireland have a chance of glory in Japan – the Six Nations trumps the Rugby Championship for preparationBefore the start of the Six Nations this month, Ireland were regarded as Europe’s prime challengers in the World Cup. Then it was England after their emphatic victory in Dublin and denuding of France at Twickenham, but in the third round the odds on the favourites New Zealand becoming the first team to win the Webb Elis Trophy for a third consecutive time shrink.Wales’s toppling of England in Cardiff, together with Ireland’s scratchy win in Rome, is perceived as making a second European conquest of the world more possible than probable. “Wales won by default in ‘rubbish’ Six Nations clash...