Gatland praises character of never-say-die charges

WARREN Gatland last nightheaped praise on his side fortheir never-say-die spirit which saw them secure a last gasp victory at the Aviva Stadium.

Though his injury-hit side forged the win on the back of a controversial last minute penalty after Stephen Ferris was harshly pinged for his tackle on Ian Evans, Gatland made no apologies for the plunder.

He said: “Yes, we were reasonably lucky, but we’ve been unlucky in the past when we’ve lost games in the last few minutes.”

He also admitted it was far from the perfect display but warned: “I think when we get it right we’re going to be a good bet. To be down to 14 men and to come back and win the game was good. We showed some great character and that was the pleasing aspect of it.”

However Gatland will have some harsh words when the video footage is reviewed this morning. “The displeasing thing was some stupid penalties, a lack of discipline and the yellow card particularly (to second row Brad Davies). But we got out of jail, we won our first game on the road and we’ve got Scotland at home on Sunday.

“We were down at half time against Samoa in the World Cup and we kept our patience, finished on top of them and that’s what Test match rugby is all about — taking opportunities. The message at half-time was to run hard and stay square and we did that. George North was world class, particularly for the try that Jonathan Davies scored. I think it was Fergus McFadden he bumped off and then offloaded off the back of his hand.

The win, with three games in Cardiff and one in Twickenham to come, provides Wales with a great opportunity in their Grand Slam quest.

Gatland agreed: “It gives us a massive amount of confidence. My experience with the Welsh team is that we’re very dangerous with backs to the wall but equally dangerous when we’re playing with belief and confidence. If we can build on today, and I know there’s a lot of improving in our game to do then I think we can do really well.”

He’s likely to have to do without second row Davies, however, and the coach admitted his offence – a spear tackle on Donnacha Ryan – was likely to end in a lengthy suspension.

Acknowledging Davies had been cited Gatland said: “I’ve always tried to be as honest as I could and it doesn’t look brilliant on the replay and on TV. I won’t deny that it doesn’t look fantastic; potentially we have to prepare for the worst. We have Lou Reed who is in with us at the moment, Ryan Jones could move up to second row, we expect Dan Lydiate to be fit next week and we understand that Alun Wyn Jones isn’t too far away. We’ll know more in the next few days.”