Warren Gatland won his first Six Nations in charge of Wales in 2008 and believes he will have an excellent chance of repeating the feat in his final year with the men in red if they win in Paris on the opening night of the tournament next month.
France lost at home to Fiji in their final match of last year’s autumn series but Gatland predicts they will provide Wales’s toughest match of the tournament. The closest the 2018 grand-slam winners Ireland came to defeat was at the Stade de France when Jonathan Sexton’s drop goal with the countdown clock at zero pinched victory.
“I think we’ve got a great chance of winning the Six Nations if we win that opening game, which is going to be our toughest,” said Gatland, who has steered Wales to third in the world rankings from 10th when he took over after the 2007 World Cup. “We feel in as good a position as anybody to do well.”
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Wales follow Paris with a trip to Rome and rather than fly home after the France match they will travel to Nice where they will have a five-day training camp before going to Italy. Their two home matches, against England and Ireland, are interrupted by a trip to Murrayfield, a ground where Gatland has never lost with Wales having been on sabbatical with the Lions when Scotland won two years ago.
“There’s a lot of positivity and confidence in Ireland,” said Gatland. “Their provincial teams are doing well in Europe; our teams haven’t been so good which is a little bit disappointing. Ireland should be talking themselves up and being confident.”
Gatland on Tuesday named a 39-man squad for the tournament. It is larger than normal because a number of players will arrive at camp next week nursing injuries, including the full-back Leigh Halfpenny, who is following return-to-play protocols following the concussion he suffered playing against Australia in November; the outside-half Dan Biggar, who suffered a knee ligament injury playing for Northampton at Clermont Auvergne last weekend; the back rower Ross Moriarty, who is also recovering from concussion; and the second row Adam Beard, who has a neck problem.
“We will monitor them all closely and hope they will be fit for the second game if not the first,” said Gatland, who will be without back rowers Taulupe Faletau, Dan Lydiate, Ellis Jenkins and James Davies for most if not all of the tournament and is taking a first look at the Wasps flanker Thomas Young, who won his two caps to date in the summer of 2017 when Gatland was in New Zealand with the Lions.
Wales had their most successful autumn campaign, winning all four matches, with World Cup group rivals Australia and South Africa among their victims. They have won their last nine Tests, two short of their record, set in 1910. The last team to beat them in Cardiff was New Zealand in 2017.
“It’ll be interesting to see what happens to us when the players come in in terms of self-belief and confidence,” said Gatland, referring to their setbacks at regional level after the success of the autumn. “The autumn was great, but it was not about points. It is important that we are thinking about tournament rugby, which is what we are going to experience in Japan in the World Cup.”
Wales will be captained by the 120-cap second-row Alun Wyn Jones, the one survivor in the squad from Gatland’s first team against England at Twickenham 11 years ago. There are no uncapped players but nine have won 50 caps or more, eight of them Lions.
“The whole thing about Six Nations is the momentum,” said Gatland. “If you can win your first couple of games, you have a great chance of being in contention on the last weekend. Alun Wyn will be essential for us over the next few months. The Ospreys have been fantastic in the way they have managed his playing time and both they and Wales are getting the best out of him.”
Gatland said Halfpenny, who is unlikely to be involved on the opening two weekends after seeing a concussion specialist, would not play until he was deemed ready. “He’s been advised to continue training. If he’s right, he’ll be in contention but if not, we’ll have to make other plans.”
Hughes signs for Bristol
Nathan Hughes has signed a three-year deal with Bristol that will see him leave Wasps at the end of the season.
The Fijian-born England number eight has been an integral part of the Wasps pack since arriving from Auckland in 2013 but has opted to depart the Coventry-based club for the 2019-20 campaign.
“Nathan is a quality rugby player who brings physicality, power and brute strength to our game,” Bristol head coach Pat Lam said. PA