What Wales are actually trying to do under Gatland and why it’s not working
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With just three tries in three matches, it’s clear Wales’ attack is far from firing on all cylinders.
Especially when you note that one of those came from a driving maul and another was an interception. With ball-in-hand, Warren Gatland’s Wales have largely picked up where Wayne Pivac’s left off.
After failing to convert limited red-zone pressure against Ireland and Scotland, it was a similar tale against England on the weekend. But are there signs of life in Wales’ stagnant attack and how do they go about unlocking it?
Well, the first point is that it’s probably important to understand what Wales are trying to do and why they’re trying to do it. Right now, Wales are lacking in carriers capable of winning collisions, while breakdown clearout remains an issue as it has done for the past four or so years.
The set-piece is also fallible at key times, which doesn’t help matters when it comes to establishing field position and striking from forays into the opposition half.
For many people, the constant kicking was a source of frustration but it’s quite simply the best – and, at times, only – way to progress down the pitch.
Few teams in world rugby can just break down defences at will from deep. Certainly, Wales can’t do it well enough to rely on that as a tactic.
One example in the first-half showed how Wales went from just outside their own 22 to forcing a goal-line dropout. It’s not groundbreaking, but it gets you in the right part of the pitch.
It also highlighted the work Wales still need to do in transition.
Wales went through a few phases, clearly setting up for a box-kick. Eventually, they do put the ball in the air – but crucially, the kick is too short for Freddie Steward to claim.
Louis Rees-Zammit is able to take the ball and suddenly Wales can attack against an unorganised England defence. However, it’s all a little messy.
Tomos Williams isn’t at the ruck so Christ Tshiunza steps in at scrum-half, passing it out to a pod of forwards. There’s space out wide, so the pod pulls the ball back behind – with both Tomos and Owen Williams loitering behind to instigate the play.
That might be a deliberate ploy, given Tomos Williams’ strength in broken-field opportunities, but Wales don’t seem totally committed to it.
Perhaps put off by the presence of two half-backs, the pass isn’t on the money and Owen Williams has to check his run to take the ball.
He still gets it away to debutant Mason Grady and it’s great work by the centre to read the space that his man will overcompensate to fill, stepping outside him at a weak shoulder before spreading a pass to Josh Adams. The wing kicks behind and England end up touching it down in-goal.
Wales are heading down the route of being a side that lives off scraps, but to be that side, you’ve got to be able to snap into that mode…
Read More: What Wales are actually trying to do under Gatland and why it’s not working 2023-03-01 06:00:00