WALES COACH WARREN Gatland warned there would be no-holds barred when his team targets a record 12th consecutive Test victory in two week’s time after a sloppy 26-15 win over Italy in Rome on Saturday.
Gatland’s side went top of the Six Nations table after away wins against France and Italy and next play England, who last week bumped Wales from third in the world rankings, in Cardiff on 23 February.
But the New Zealander conceded “sometimes you have to win ugly” after Welsh errors allowed the gritty Italians back into the game at the Stadio Olimpico.
“There will definitely be no lack of motivation in trying to beat England and break that record,” said the New Zealander.
We’ve got a chance, we’re at home, the stadium will be full, it’ll be some atmosphere at the Principality Stadium.
“If this group of players achieve that, it’ll be something nobody can take away from them.”
Wales last achieved 11 consecutive victories in 1910.
Gatland made 10 changes to the side that beat the French in Paris and led 7-12 at the break thanks to four Dan Biggar penalties.
Josh Adams and Owen Watkin scored a pair of tries after the break but there were too many errors to push for a bonus-point win.
“You’re not always brilliant and we weren’t today. We will be a lot better against England,” said Gatland.
The Italians slumped to a 19th successive defeat in the championship, but emerged with some credit, scoring a try in each half and rattling the world number four team.
“A lot of people criticise us but you have to give Italy credit,” said Gatland.
“They’re a tough team to break down in Rome.
That’s probably the best Italian performance I’ve seen since I’ve been in charge of Wales.”
‘Bigger Picture’
Gatland tried an experimental Wales side with Jonathan Davies captaining the team for the first time.
Gatland emptied his bench in the second half with regular skipper Alun Wyn Jones coming on late and his imposing presence provided a boost.
“I was looking at the bigger picture,” said Gatland, as he prepares for the World Cup in Japan.
We want to have as good a World Cup as we can. That was the plan all along.
“If it was a normal year, on reflection, maybe we wouldn’t have made so many changes. We wanted to give everyone in the 31 an opportunity to be involved in the first two games.
There’s no regrets, we’ve won two from two matches and now have a couple of weeks to set up nicely for the England match.
“We’ll put this game behind us and the most satisfying thing was coming away with a win.”
Italy followed their loss to Scotland in Murrayfield by extending their losing streak in the competition going back to February 2015.
He’s not as disappointed as some on relation to how far off they are? They are miles off. No offence to Munster but they are an average,though very gutsy and committed side,and they have hammers Leinster twice in a row now. I do agree that they haven’t had any continuity with combinations,especially from 9-13,and hopefully when the likes of OBrien, Healy, Moore, Teo, McFadden etc come back then there will be a big improvement.
I must take the opportunity to praise Matt O’Connor for the huge improvement in Guinness Pro12 teams. Ever since he arrived at Leinster, every other team has greatly improved. Teams, that two years ago were almost brushed aside by Leinster, have now reached the heights that Leinster once inhabited alone.
Treviso have improved, Munster have improved, Edinburgh have improved, Scarlets have improved, Dragons have improved, Zebra have improved, Connacht (brilliant tonight, by the way) have improved..
In fact, they have all improved so much that Leinster has great difficulty taking on any of them.
By extension, Wasps and Harlequins have shown just how brilliant they are too due to you Matt.
I can hardly wait to see how much Castres get better when they arrive at the RDS soon. They will build statues in your image all over the town.
Matt, you have done European rugby a great service. They have all reached and surpassed Leinster this season thanks to your input at Leinster and everywhere else.
Thank you Matt and Happy New year!.
(and also to Mr Caputo, the news paper seller. Your influence on all other teams has been exceptional)