Happy talk for Gatland is winning Six Nations title again
WARREN GATLAND is happy to talk up Wales’ Six Nations chances...even if no-one else is.
The Wales coach, who masterminded his adopted country’s Grand Slam success in 2008 and was one kick away from a Triple Crown in 2009, is happy his side are off everyone’s Six Nations radar.
But he is still confident Wales will be a major force in the 2010 which starts next month.
“Nobody is talking about us,” declared Gatland.
“Everybody is talking about France, Ireland and England.
“It’s a nice place to be in but we have to go out and talk about winning the Six Nations.”
Gatland will return on Saturday, February 6 to the scene of arguably his greatest triumph as Wales coach – Twickenham.
A Gatland-inspired Wales ended a 20-year run of defeats at Twickers to set up an incredible clean sweep of the 2008 Six Nations.
And the Kiwi, who saw his Wales side beat England in Cardiff last season, is looking to keep his unbeaten record and make it a hat-trick of wins against the old enemy.
“We aren’t afraid of going there and we have to back ourselves,” said Gatland.
“It’s a great ground to play at and to have England first up is great for us.
“The pressure may be on us because we have lots of Lions in our squad but we have to have faith in our ability and believe we are good enough to win.
“It’s been a long time since Wales have won three games in a row against England. It would be a great start to our campaign.
“It’s going to be tough and physical and both sides are going to be really desperate.
“It’s a tough place to get a result.”
Gatland has tried to instil a winning mentality during his time in charge with Wales but, despite having won a Grand Slam and with a host of Test Lions at his call, he still doesn’t believe his squad has bought into his philosophy.
“Players respond when they are criticised or when they have the underdog tag, but that is easy to do,” he said.
“People were talking about us beating Australia and being favourites in the autumn and we struggled with that mentally.
“We need to cope with that and that is the next progression for us. We have to have the expectation of winning, taking our chances and being clinical.
“We need to talk about winning and we don’t seem to like to do it and it's much easier to talk the opposition up.
“We have to put ourselves out on a limb.
“We shouldn’t be afraid to talk about the business of winning.
“I know the Irish players look at the Welsh and see them as being physically stronger and more skilful, but the Irish would see themselves as being mentally tougher.
“That is an area we have to improve on. We have to be tougher on ourselves and defeat has to really hurt.
“The external pressure and the fear of pain of defeat has to drive us to the next level.”
Gatland, though, will probably find one remark he made during the autumn campaign being thrown at him before the England game.
He said the Guinness Premiership was the weakest he could remember and now expects that comment to be raised again.
“There were a lot of reasons why I said that,” said Gatland.
“There were a lot of teams with huge injuries, key senior players had retired at certain clubs, players had left for France and four experienced coaches had left the Premiership.
“All of that meant, I felt, that the Premiership wasn’t as strong as it was in the past.
“Some people agreed with me, some didn’t.
“It created some controversy but I love the competition. But in the autumn it wasn’t the strongest Premiership I had seen since I have been in the northern hemisphere.”
While Gatland admits the loss of three Lions – Adam Jones, Mike Phillips and Lee Byrne – had a huge bearing on Wales’ autumn performances, the biggest lesson was that Wales DIDN’T kick enough against the likes of New Zealand and Australia.
So the idea that Wales lacked creativity in the autumn campaign is incorrect.
A side’s kicking game, due to the lottery at the breakdown, has to be accurate and precise.
It is something the likes of Stephen Jones, Dwayne Peel and Lee Byrne will be told during the build up to the Six Nations.
“The biggest learning curve from the autumn, and this is a real blight on the game at the moment, is that teams which kicks the most wins the game,” said Gatland.
“Australia kicked twice as much in the autumn as they did the previous year.
“We kicked less than our opponents in every game. If you look at the results in other games in November, the team that kicked the most won the game.
“Ireland kicked more than South Africa and won, Scotland kicked more than Australia and the All Blacks kicked more than us.
“We want to play rugby and move the ball but we also have to be smart and look at the variation of our kicking game.
“The breakdown is ferocious and a lottery. It is an area of concern but that is just where the game is now.
“The game has changed so much in 12 months. There is a pressure to play rugby and we have gone out and done that, but defence dominates the game so much this season.
“The positive from the All Blacks and Wallabies games were that our territory and possession against them has gone up in the last 12 months.”
Hospitality Tickets Are Avaiable In the Market At Very Competative Price
For upcoming sports information please visit Corporate Hospitality Group
Book your Six Nations Hospitality Six Nations Hospitality
0 Response to "Happy talk for Gatland is winning Six Nations title again"
Post a Comment