Gatland bemoans errors in Wales’ defeat to France

Soft tries, a retreating scrum and poor game management were all to blame for Wales’ latest Six Nations defeat to France on Sunday as coach Warren Gatland conceded next weekend's home clash with Italy is “massive” as they aim to avoid the wooden spoon.

Wales were in the game for an hour but lost 45-24 as the visitors turned the screw in the final quarter with their massive pack and forced Wales into errors, which they converted into points.

“It is disappointing as there were some soft points that were given away. We probably hurt ourselves by not managing the game properly in the last period,” Gatland told BBC.

“They put our scrum under pressure. Something we have been working hard on but not there at the moment. I thought our line-out was excellent. We didn't help ourselves by some of the mistakes we made.

“We were up 24-23 but we didn't manage the game with turnovers and we are disappointing with some soft points given away.

“We probably overplayed. When we were down by six points and you're thinking just play territory make it easy for yourselves, but we hurt ourselves and not played well enough in that last period.”

Wales sit at the foot of the Six Nations table but a home win over Italy on Saturday could see them avoid last place.

“It is a massive game for us, but you can't hide away from it,” Gatland said.

“There will be a lot of external pressure and we understand that. It is about stepping up and making sure we learn from the things we have been doing.

“We have players who are not quite ready yet at this level and they have got to learn very, very quickly what Test match rugby is about.

“How you have to be accurate and stay in the fight. We have to make sure we are a bit more clinical for longer periods so we keep improving.” 

Reuters