Wales Rugby taking positives from Six Nations as the future looks bright

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A look at the current Six Nations tournament from a Wales perspective. How do they feel after putting in monstrous performances but coming away with nothing? And, how bright is the future of Welsh rugby?

Transcript

00:00 So, James, just talk about the Six Nations from a Wales perspective and let's just start

00:09 with your thoughts going into this major tournament, especially after that World Cup.

00:14 Well, obviously, we haven't really expected too much going into this. Some good performances

00:20 of the World Cup but fell very flat when we left against Argentina. We were, like I said,

00:27 not expecting much from the Six Nations, but we put on some good performances so far. Really

00:30 close games, only a three-point deficit or something like that with two losses. It's

00:37 not very common for rugby games to be that close, really, I would say. The Scotland game

00:41 was one of the best games anyone's going to watch in rugby. It was a game of two halves.

00:47 Scotland showed their class and Wales showed that that first half display wasn't Wales.

00:52 There's more to this team, this young team, that can go forward. We looked like maybe

00:59 should have beaten England at times. There was a couple of opportunities to properly

01:03 take it by the reins but didn't quite take it. But, like I said, some good performances

01:08 so far when we were really not expecting much at all.

01:12 Yes, the Six Nations that follows the Rugby World Cup, it always feels like it's a bit

01:18 of a start of a new cycle for all the teams. Do you feel as if there's something brewing?

01:23 Obviously, you mentioned it's a young Wales squad. Do you feel like the future could be

01:27 bright for this bunch of players?

01:30 Absolutely. I think having Warren Gatlin, part of the organisation, he's been Wales

01:37 for the last 10, 15 years in rugby. Losing him, we saw what we were without him. The

01:43 post-Gatlin plan didn't work. He's come back. We're talking about losses here, we're

01:51 not talking about wins. But we are talking about good performances in losses. The first

01:55 time we've lost against Scotland at home in over 20 years, something ridiculous like

02:00 that. But Scotland were the ones at the end who were looking like a loss. Wales were looking

02:06 like a win because the performances are there. The young players that are there, the whole

02:11 team really. There's a couple of the names that you'd remember from the last few years,

02:15 but overall, it's a completely fresh start.

02:18 And this Six Nations isn't our Six Nations. No-one was expecting it to be our Six Nations.

02:24 I'd happily admit that we've probably got a few more losses in us in these next three

02:27 games. Could easily go out and put on some good performances. France will beat a ball.

02:34 Even Ireland, I don't think, in a team they were like a few months ago. Like you said

02:38 about the fresh start. Ireland aren't on the crest of the World Cup, making it like they

02:44 thought they were going to going into the World Cup. So, you know, this one's not about

02:49 finishing first. This one's about showing what we can do and getting in a good position,

02:54 seeing how we do through the summer in some of the tests and then kicking on properly

02:58 with this young team that in a few years' time really could be special.

03:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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