Henry pays tribute to man of match Gibbs

Coach Graham Henry last night paid tribute to Scott Gibbs following his man of the match display in Wales’ Six Nations victory over Italy.

The centre boosted his Lions hopes with two tries in the 33-23 victory in Rome.

"Scott Gibbs will be delighted with the way he played," said Henry, who will also coach the Lions on the summer tour of Australia.

"To score two tries and get a man of the match award shows the character of the guy. He has been a big time footballer for Wales for a long time. He was under pressure during the week to perform well here and he did."

Henry also praised scrum half Gareth Cooper, who marked his debut with a try, having only been called up yesterday morning after Rob Howley was forced to cry off because of a back injury.

"He knew he was playing at 11am so he had plenty of time to prepare," quipped Henry, after his side made it four away championship games without defeat for the first time since 1979.

The victory lifted Wales into second place in the championship and they will stay there if they beat Ireland when the Six Nations resumes in the autumn.

That comes despite the record home defeat against England in their championship opener.

Henry added: "I’m extremely happy with the season. We had one real hiccup" and that was against the English guys.

"We could have done better against South Africa but there are lots of positives from this season. We have made a lot of progress."

He refused to comment about New Zealand referee Paul Honiss despite admitting his side had been frustrated by the stop start nature of the game.

But skipper David Young said: "We could not get anything going. I was constantly querying the referee’s decisions.

"It was a stop start game and we did not want that, but we’ve got the win so we have to be delighted."

Two try hero Gibbs said: "I am pleased with my performance, although the two tries do not mean anything because all I had to do was catch the ball.

"Other people have been doubting my ability but I never had. I think I have had a good season overall.

"It’s just a case of waiting for the squad to be picked now but I’m not going to let it occupy my thoughts with Swansea chasing a league and cup double."

Italy scorers: Tries: Checchinato. Pens: Dominguez 5. Drop Goals: Dominguez.

ITALY: Stoica, Perziano, Pozzebon, Raineri, D. Dallan, Dominguez, Mazzantini, Lo Cicero, Moscardi, Properzi Curti, Visser, Gritti, Persico, Bergamasco, Checchinato. Replacements: Pilat for Raineri (50), de Carli for Lo Cicero (77), Zaffiri for Gritti (63).

Wales scorers: Tries: Cooper, Gibbs 2. Cons: N. Jenkins 3. Pens: N. Jenkins 4.

WALES: R. Williams, G. Thomas, Taylor, Gibbs, James, N. Jenkins, Cooper, Morris, McBryde, Young, Gough, Moore, Charvis, M. Williams, S. Quinnell. Replacements: C. Quinnell for Gough (50).

Referee: Paul Honiss (New Zealand).