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Wales’ 14-10 loss to Scotland in their Six Nations final marked a fifth loss on the trot and the end of a forgettable championship campaign in which they only won against Italy.
The pressure is mounting on Wales manager Wayne Pivac as he tries to transition his team to a different style of play than his predecessor Warren Gatland.
But Wales need a sharp victory, with a four-game Fall Nations Cup set to start in less than a fortnight.
Here’s a look at what the England-based media has to say about Wales falling from Grand Slam champions one year to finishing fifth this year …
Steve James, Sunday Times
It was a shocking match to watch, especially coming so fast after the previous Bledisloe Cup match, but an even more shocking result for Wales.
They, and in particular their head coach, Wayne Pivac, needed the win, ugly as it was. As it stands, the defeat dooms them, with only the lone victory over Italy, to their worst Six Nations campaign since 2007. And it goes without saying that that was before Warren Gatland took over.
Wales, under Pivac’s leadership, are not looking to defeat anyone, but are learning the hard way that international rugby requires physical battles to be won before anything else can be accomplished.
Wales are looking a bit lost at the moment, a bit unsure how they should play. Pivac is trying to re-educate a group of players who have been rooted with a certain method.
The time has changed. Pivac needs time, but it will also need results to wait for that moment.
Mick Cleary, Telegraph
It would be difficult to sweeten this performance from Wales
Wales were flat and confused, unable to break free or subdue their opponents who won for the first time in Wales in 18 years. Wales lacked security and direction when they fell to their fifth loss in a row, an unfortunate situation for a team that was the defending Grand Slam champion.
There will be alarm bells ringing as Wayne Pivac deals with his underpowered equipment and the growing clamor for improvement. Wales were well and truly dominated in the breakdown, conceding 11 penalties in that phase alone. From Gatland the Great Redeemer to Pivac the flagellant rookie, who oversees Wales’s worst campaign in three years, it is only the second time in 13 years that they have finished in such a low position.
Alun Wyn Jones would have had to be a miracle worker to turn this West Walian water into wine. Just 12 months ago Wales came one step away from beating South Africa to reach the World Cup final. It is an alarming fall from grace.
Paul Rees, tutor
The joy of Scotland was the despair of Wales on an unreal afternoon in Llanelli in which the lack of public said so. The team that won the Grand Slam last season desperately lost the energy that support provides at home as they were outmatched in most areas, especially in the breakdown, by the men in blue, who celebrated a first win at Wales since 2002.
Wales spent the game looking for a foothold, but never found one.
There was a marked improvement in defense where their line across the field rarely allowed Scotland to smell the profit line, regardless of galloping over it, but they offered little in attack and failed to prevail in the final 10 minutes when the Scots were nursing. to one. -point of lead.
Richard Bath, telegraph
Too bad poor Alun Wyn Jones. He may be a goliath of the game, and this may have been a record match for the Welsh lockout, whose 149th appearance surpassed the record set by Richie McCaw, but even such a historic footnote was not enough to rescue a game. devastated. for towing conditions or to resurrect Welsh fortunes.
If the talisman of Wales was disappointed in how this heavy and edgy game turned out in an empty Parc and Scarlets, those emotions will be reflected in every corner of his home country. Wales continues to defend as if Shaun Edwards were in the stands, but offered little in attack and less up front.
For a beleaguered Wayne Pivac, who has been trying to change the Welsh style of play using his predecessor’s equipment, but with a core of veterans clinging to hope for one last Lions road trip, these are dark times. Finishing fifth in the Six Nations was not part of his job assignment, and with a break clause next year he must be feeling the heat.
RugbyPass
Wales ended their first Six Nations campaign under Wayne Pivac with a historic loss to Scotland at Llanelli, the first at home to the Scots in 18 years to end a forgettable tournament.
The final score of 14-10 accumulated more misery for Pivac’s men, their fifth consecutive loss since defeating Italy in their first Six Nations game. Welsh fans have struggled to see a coherent game plan with Pivac, with many claiming the team has no direction. Some were quick to label it one of Wales’s worst performances in recent memory.
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