Gatland bites his tongue

Warren Gatland's reaction to Wales' lacklustre 34-13 win over Canada on Friday was in stark contrast to the tongue-lashing he gave his side that lost to South Africa last week.

Warren Gatland's reaction to Wales' lacklustre 34-13 win over Canada on Friday was in stark contrast to the tongue-lashing he gave his side that lost to South Africa last week.

Then, Gatland lambasted his team for their profligacy and lapses in concentration, but on Friday he was in a more level-headed frame of mind.

Wales, albeit missing a number of first-choice regulars, were very ordinary against a resilient and well-drilled Canada side, scoring five tries but only three from open play and trailing for much of the first half.

“We are very pleased with the victory but not so pleased with the performance,” said Gatland after the game.

“We gave away a lot of turnovers, 30-odd.

“It was 19 last week against South Africa and we weren't happy with that.

“We did not respect the ball enough.

“We probably tried to force too many passes and our skill level let us down, but there was some pretty inexperienced players out there at the end.

“It was good to see them come through.

“Five tries and another interception try against us. But a win is a win.”

Teenage wing Leigh Halfpenny's blistering solo try shortly before half-time handed back Wales the lead they never lost, and there were a couple of other bright performances in the ghastly yellow shirts the Welsh were wearing.

“I thought we scrummaged well and John had a pretty good game. It was great to see Leigh score a couple of tries. He looked dangerous,” continued Gatland.

“We wanted to give Andy (Powell) a run. What we were probably looking for was for one or two players to give us a bit of a spark. Andy and Leigh did that.”

Powell replaced captain Ryan Jones, who did not have his best game, early in the second half and supplied the dynamism to breach the Canada defence and provide the Welsh with some crucial go-forward ball.

“Ryan probably wasn't 100 per cent pleased with his performance and we had to think about next weekend's match with the All Blacks,” said Gatland.

“Dan (Biggar) came on a lot earlier than we expected. He kicked well. Once or twice he kicked the ball away when we would have liked to have kept possession.

“We have got a habit of giving interception tries and it was his turn. But he showed a huge amount of promise, in front of a crowd of that size.”