SM
Aston Villa vs. West Ham: 20 hrs 2 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Wales boss Wayne Pivac calls for Six Nations improvement

:Headline: Wales boss Wayne Pivac calls for Six Nations improvement: ID:432471: from db_amp
Wales won just three out of 10 Tests under Wayne Pivac last year.

Wayne Pivac accepts there is "plenty to do and improve on" as Wales target making an impact in this season's Guinness Six Nations Championship.

Wales kick off their campaign against Ireland after a poor 2020 when they won just three Tests from 10 starts under Pivac's coaching direction.

Their Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup tournaments were Pivac's first at the helm since he succeeded Warren Gatland as head coach.

And the year ended with a fifth-placed finish in both competitions as Wales managed wins against Italy (twice) and Georgia.

Their best performances were probably in games they lost narrowly – France at home and England away – which underlined quality that Wales need to deliver on a consistent basis.

"There have been a few learnings we've taken from not only the first Six Nations, but also the autumn, in terms of what we know about the players and about each other as a management group applying our trade at this level of the game," Pivac said.

"Also our game itself, which didn't function as well as we would have liked in the last campaign.

"There is plenty to do and improve on. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes in terms of our planning and the way we are going to be playing the game in this competition.

“There has been no lack of work ethic”
- Wales head coach Wayne Pivac

"We are definitely looking at the here and now, making sure that we focus on the learnings and get better performances.

"There has been no lack of work ethic. Everyone has rolled their sleeves up and done a great job. It's a very compatible group.

"Now, it's just a matter of making sure that we control everything we can control and individuals take responsibility on the playing field and training field.

"We want to get our best performances out on the track in the 80 minutes, and we weren't able to do that in the last campaign.

"We've got to be playing good, solid rugby across the 80 minutes and give ourselves the opportunity to win every game. It is something we will be working very hard at achieving.

"We are here to win games of rugby. We've explained what we did in the autumn – our methodology, if you like – but now it's about getting performances on the park and winning games of rugby.

"We want that as much as the public, and that is what we are striving for."

Pivac's 36-man Six Nations squad includes fit-again trio Tomos Williams, Ken Owens and Josh Navidi – they all missed the entire autumn campaign – while captain Alun Wyn Jones is on course to recover from a knee injury and be available for the Ireland game.

Pivac will also have been encouraged by the form of several key players during recent Guinness PRO14 games, no-one more so than wing George North, who has starred for the Ospreys and is just two appearances away from reaching 100 Wales caps.

"The game, at different stages (in the autumn) against different opposition, had its moments – positive and negative," Pivac added.

Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones is set to be fit  after injury (Adam Davy/PA)

"Unfortunately, in the first half of the campaign, there were more negatives than positives. I would like to think that in the last three weeks we started to see some more of the positives and the learnings coming through to the team.

"Some young players took some steps forward, and also in terms of how we wanted to play the game.

"We definitely have to make bigger improvements in this competition to be successful. We are tweaking some of the things we are doing in all those areas."

amp_article__432471 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2021-01-28 08:12:35:
html db last update - 2021-01-28 08:12:35 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Wayne Pivac

Click here for more stories about Wales

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool19144147192846
2Arsenal20117239182140
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest20124429191040
4Chelsea20106439241536
5Newcastle UnitedNewcastle20105534221235
6Manchester CityMan City2010463627934
7Bournemouth209653023733
8Aston Villa209563032-232
9Fulham207943027330
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2061043029128
11Brentford208393835327
12Tottenham HotspurSpurs20731042301224
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd206592328-523
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham206592439-1523
15Crystal Palace204972128-721
16Everton193881525-1017
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2044123145-1416
18Ipswich TownIpswich2037102035-1516
19Leicester CityLeicester2035122344-2114
20Southampton2013161244-326
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .