wayneha50 wrote:It was a great match & a great result but nothing we havn't really seen from this team before. There were worrying signs in the last 15/20mins when we were ahead & seemed happy to sit on the lead, stop playing rugby & box-kick all our possession away. Fair enough it worked yesterday but against the better sides its failed time & time again. We go to Paris with nothing to lose now & can hopefully kick on but for me, we remain in need of some faces in the team & dire need of a new coaching outlook. I jst cannot see it coming from Gatland, Howley & co.
I'm not sure that's true.
Yes, we were hanging on near the end again, but that was due to intense Irish pressure rather than a conscious decision to defend, IMO. When the opportunity arose to go back on the attack, we took it and won the game. In the past, in similar positions, we've seen Wales decide that their defence is doing okay so they'll hold onto what they've got. This time, they sensed the danger and maneuvered themselves out of it, and into the position to put unbearable pressure on the opposition.
That, and the general sense of hunger to attack throughout, is why I'm encouraged, if only with strong reservations. We lost the penalty count 10-4, at home, which is ridiculous; after seemingly years of being unable to score first-phase tries, we suddenly don't score any other kind; and as said above, what the thinking was behind asking Dan Biggar to morph into Sam Davies when Davies was actually in the building, is anyone's guess.
Most of the criticisms of Wales that were valid on Friday afternoon are still valid. But when you turn over the pre-match favourites by three tries to nil, you earn the right to a bit of a break, so I'll be giving them one.
