Wales opened their Six Nations campaign with a crushing 34-10 defeat of Ireland in Cardiff.

Tries from Kelan Dorris, James Ryan, James Lowe and Josh van der Flier were enough for Ireland to convincingly beat Wales. The hosts managed just one try from Liam Williams.

With Wales facing Scotland in Edinburgh in the second round, urgent improvements are needed to salvage their Six Nations campaign.

Here’s what manager Warren Gatland and captain Ken Owens had to say after a day off for Wales.

Q: How do you explain the slow start?

Warren Gatland: “I don’t know. I think the slow start was because we missed a couple of penalties, which gave them the momentum to get into our 22. We didn’t play well enough to start the game and were 14 points behind and under pressure.

“The penalty score in that first half was 7-1. That gave them the boost to the start they wanted and put us under a lot of pressure.”

Q: Did you get the reaction you wanted in the second half?

Work group: “I think the second half was a big improvement. We talk about pushing them at line speed. I thought it definitely got better.

“Discipline and lenient fines cost us. We created some chances but weren’t skilled enough to finish them off.

“The number of entries for both teams for 22 was the same. It’s a big job for us, but this game has a lot of positive things besides the scoreboard.

“I felt like we could have gone around the line a few times in that first half and we had a seven-point interception against us. It could be much closer.

“I felt that in the second half we pressed Ireland 27-10, if we had scored and made it 27-17 it could have been an interesting couple of minutes. It’s a very good team, number one in the world and they showed that this afternoon”.

Q: Were there problem areas you could work on before Scotland?

Work group: “I think so. We’ll keep working on it and ask players to look at themselves and be pretty tough.

“There were definitely some good moments. We made some good breaks and I thought we had a good run at 22, but we just didn’t get those points. It’s going to be something we need to work on. We probably forced a pass or two, we also had a drop and hint, which is usually good.

“We talked about this experience and continued.

“If you look at them, I think their game management was excellent. They played two or three phases in that midfield. If they managed to force a penalty out of that, they took advantage and if not, they shot through the air. I think we were much better in the second half.”

Q: In regards to the Scotland national team, are you more open to change than before?

Work group: “I think we’ve always said that we wanted to look at some of the players on the team. These players were given a chance to come out and perform this afternoon.”

“Alun Wean didn’t pass the HIA so he won’t be available for the next game so we did that. Thomas Francis is out with a stiff calf so he will have a scan on Monday. We’ll see what players can potentially get next week.”

Q: Ken, must have been a hard day to enjoy?

Ken Owens: “It was difficult. We didn’t do what we said we would do.

“They didn’t do anything that really surprised us. They attacked us and with our indiscipline we gave them access.

“I am proud of the boys. We held our ground and the guys gave it their all on the pitch. We had a lot of experience. I think we made some good decisions, some brave decisions, and we lacked precision, including myself. , in alignment.

“In the first phase, we turned the ball around and put pressure on each other. It’s the ball game that’s probably the difference between us at the moment and a team like Ireland who are number one in the world. They are precise, clinical and clear work. I thought we created enough but lacked that precision.

“Thanks to the effort we demand from the players for 80 minutes, we did it. I cannot doubt it. That little detail, that lack of precision and that detail let us down.”

Q: Warren, was Joe Hawkins one of the bright spots?

Work group: “Yes, I think so. He has a lot of good stuff, good footwork. He wasn’t the only one who had a good counterattack and then came in and we immediately turned him around. Sometimes you’ll learn from that.” , but he showed good touches, footwork and timing.

“I think that Rio Dier also showed a lot of things and Liam Williams, in addition to the yellow card, also gave good touches.

“At the end of the game I said to myself that I am not really disappointed with our performance. We have a lot of positives and in the past we have been able to work hard and fix things and I said today they are in better condition and if we can be a little more clinical then start better and focus on our discipline.

“I think there were 16 penalties and that’s not much. In international rugby this must be reduced to 10.

“When you go into the break and it’s 9-2 on penalties, you’re under pressure. We’ll work on that and make some decisions in the future. We will continue to work hard. At the Rugby Test you realize it’s a big step for the rugby club.

“A lot of our players are in the same position as Ireland right now, when you fight with your arms, you don’t make a lot of mistakes, you’re clinical, you’re disciplined, you support everything. Several measures are being taken to further improve this area.”

Q: What do you think of Liam Williams’ yellow card and some penalties against Ireland?

RG: “I’m not sure Andrew Porter needed to do this, as he himself [Liam Williams] I would score. I thought George North’s tackle could have been a yellow card because you’re in a good attacking position and you don’t have him to clean up.

“But these were not mass incidents. I agree with the referee and TMO making these decisions because I think there were times when we were very conservative and handed out yellow cards very freely.

“At Ian’s house [Henderson] he climbed up there and it could be argued that he could have moved his body out of the way.

“With Porter, if I were his manager, I would give him a big pat on the back because while he’s done a great line to contain Jack Morgan, he probably needs to be reminded that in a big game that kind of thing is a potential yellow card.

“We achieved the same thing with Liam Williams, who pressed us for 10 minutes. But yeah, I’m satisfied with the referee’s decisions.”

Q: Were you disappointed with the referee’s decisions in the meltdown?

Work group: “Yes, there were several times. Adam Bird and Justin Tipuric responded but the referee said his hand was on the ground, it was a tough decision but we just need clarity in the review.”

Q: What impression did Tommy Raffel leave on you?

RG: “He’s the type of player that suited him to play a lot on the counterattack with the way he played from left to right and trying to keep possession of the ball, so we needed to press the ball. Ireland do well on the break, fastball and momentum, so we needed to win the game and stop this.”

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