Charteris: ‘We now have to win all four’

Editor

Wales second row Luke Charteris knows that after drawing in Dublin the task ahead is straightforward – Wales have to win out.

Now a point behind England and France after Round 1, Charteris and Wales take on Scotland this weekend in the first of what are now four must-win games if they want to win a first title since 2013.

"We have to win all four," Charteris said.

"We saw last year how close this tournament has been over the last few years. Unfortunately, there is no Grand Slam or Triple Crown to go for now, but we have to knuckle down and get four wins from four.

"I saw a bit of the (Scotland versus England) game, and they (Scotland) looked good.

"It was a physical game against England – both packs went at it – and they will be a challenge, especially with us having one day less recovery, so we will have to look after ourselves."

Focusing on the game itself, Wales did well to come from behind at 13-0 down, but Charteris was critical of his side's slow start.

"We spoke about getting a strong start, and we didn't do that," he added.

"Ireland got on top of us for the first 20 to 30 minutes. Credit to them, they kept the ball well, got across the gain-line a bit too easily, and that made it tough for us.

"Unfortunately, we have had a few slow starts, but we have been around long enough as a team and we back our fitness and back our composure.

"No-one panicked out there. They played well at the start and we had to address it and slowly but surely we clawed ourselves back into the game.

"I thought we did well to come back. We dug deep to get out of a hole and we went through I don't know how many phases in that passage of play to get the three points (after 74 minutes), then unfortunately gave three back very cheaply straight after that.

"I thought Rhys came on and played very well to be fair. He certainly gave us opportunities to win the game.

"We keep saying we are lucky that we have that strength in depth in terms of players. When Gareth (Anscombe) pulled out, Liam stood in and played very well. You need to have that."