One of the differences Warren Gatland has made in his 12 years in charge of Wales is the way he has controlled emotions in a country where volatility used to breed inconsistency. There was a period when they were never more vulnerable than when they had beaten England, their oldest rivals, but the New Zealander regarded the victory on Saturday, which kept the tournament alive, as a hole won on a golf course rather than a major.
Wales replaced England at the top of the Six Nations after recording a record 12th consecutive victory, and their first in the tournament against the men in white for six years. They will very probably need to win the grand slam, as they did in Gatland’s first year in charge in 2008, if they are to secure the title, and next up is Scotland at Murrayfield on 9 March.
“The biggest challenge for us is not to be happy with beating England,” said Gatland, who was on sabbatical with the Lions when Wales lost at Murrayfield in 2017 for the first time in 10 years. “We must not accept where we are at the moment but try to build on Saturday and create something very special. I have not lost in Scotland with Wales, but they have become really tough to beat there.”
Despite the long winning run, which started in the fourth round of the Six Nations last year, Wales were not fancied to beat England after underwhelming displays in Paris and Rome. They were underdogs at home, slowly and deliberately whipping the crowd into a frenzy, but they will be expected to win on 9 March.
“The great thing about the Six Nations is that anyone can beat anyone on their day,” Gatland said. “That’s what you want. You do not want England or France, as they did in the past, dominating. We want unpredictability, teams that cause upsets by being tactically astute.
“Beating England was an upset, not for us because we expected to win, but it would have been for a lot of people.
“It sets us up nicely in World Cup year. We’re the only unbeaten team left in the championship with the potential of winning the triple crown, the grand slam and the title. We have not secured any bonus points, which makes it a challenge, but to make it a record number of wins made it a special day for the players.
“Our second-half display was as good as it gets and maybe it will make people sit up and take notice of us.”
Gatland said before the start of the Six Nations he felt if Wales won in Paris on the opening night they would be well placed to win the title for the first time since 2013. The manner of England’s win in Dublin turned the attention on to them, but that worked to Wales’s advantage on Saturday when they disarmed England’s bulky ball‑carriers and defused their kicking game. England led 10-3 at the interval but hardly fired a shot in the second half.
“It would be special if we could sign off my final year in Wales with the Six Nations title,” Gatland said. “I was really proud of this performance. England said they were coming down to spoil our party and perhaps we have spoiled theirs. The sign of a good team, though, is to move on and start thinking about the next phase.”
When Wales have won their first three matches in the Six Nations, they have gone on to secure the grand slam, in 2005, 2008 and 2012. “We are in a great position, but we know that one slip-up means we don’t win the championship,” said the fly-half Dan Biggar, who came off the bench on the hour to steer his side to victory.
“We have two tough games coming up and winning them would be a perfect send-off for Warren in the last year of his great reign. We are full of confidence after winning 12 on the bounce, but the World Cup is looming and we are conscious of not peaking too soon.
“We were not at our absolute best against England, but found a way to win. Perhaps it was a bigger game for us because if they had won they would have gone on to win the championship comfortably and I was glad to make a contribution. Hunger took us over the line. Another victory, another step.”