Shane Williams’ verdict: Livewire Gareth Davies is the Welsh gamebreaker but he must learn quickly it’s not all about try glory
Davies was named man of the match and it was easy to see why. The scrum-half is bristling with confidence with the sort of strike-rate a winger would be proud of after scoring six ties in 12 Test appearances.
He has blistering speed off the mark and it’s that turn of pace over the first 10 to 15 metres that makes him so dangerous to opposition and exciting to watch. Certainly on Friday night, he was Wales’ liveliest player. He is also a powerful guy and allied with such a low centre of gravity, it makes him a real predator.
But Davies also has to learn that, sometimes, it’s not always about grabbing the glory-try. More often than not you have to take a moment to look for the most realistic option to score, even if it means slowing up. That’s something I had to learn early in my career.
When you’re young, enthusiastic and desperate to make your mark, your natural instinct is to always go for the line.
You can’t help but get excited when you make a break and the crowd start to roar. But the reality is that you are very rarely going to score a try from 60 metres out and, more often than not, I would find myself isolated and unsure what to do next.
There was one moment in particular against France when Davies needed to take a moment to lift up his head and weigh-up the best options.
He made a super break just before half-time. He left opposite number Maxime Machenaud for dead and sped past four other defenders – only to kick the ball through and Maxime Medard cleared.
Had Davies looked up, he would have seen Dan Biggar screaming for the ball on his left with another three players in support. I’m sure Rob Howley will be having a word with him over the next fortnight to consider his options.
Warren Gatland spoke during the build up to France of how little space there is now in international rugby. That’s why having someone like Davies is so important to Wales.
He can break the line and get Wales on the front-foot. But he has to learn that he has done his job by making the initial burst and getting behind opposition. After that, you have to look for support, even if that means changing direction and even slowing up. But it’s great to have him as that threat.
It’s interesting how one person’s misfortune becomes another’s opportunity and you have to give Davies credit for taking his chance after Rhys Webb’s injury. That’s rugby.
It will be even more interesting to see what Gatland does when Webb – who was by far his previous first-choice – is back to full match fitness. Webb could certainly be on the bench at Twickenham as long as he does not feel any problems from his full return with Ospreys last night.
However, Wales will be sweating on news of Gethin Jenkins. Rob Evans has done a really good job in his first full campaign. He has carried the ball tirelessly and has been part of a solid set-piece.
But having a guy of Gethin’s experience and quality is just what you want on the bench for Twickenham. Even in a few minutes against France, he showed his quality at the breakdown.
Wales will head to HQ unbeaten in their first three games. But the biggest factor will be that they know they can play so much better.
They never looked like losing against France, saw off a decent Scotland side and should have won in Ireland after coming back from 13-points down.
Yet they are nowhere near their best and that is a real positive. Dare I say, it’s a mark of champions to be able to win games when playing below par.
Just look at George North‘s try. It was a shambles from a French point of view but those things go for you when you keep working. I know George will get some ribbing from the rest of the lads for his lack of footballing skills. Gareth Bale certainly has nothing to fear.
But give Wales credit for the speed of Jonathan Davies’ thought and to North for chasing down the chance.
It’s certainly a sign of how far this team have come that we expect so much more than we’ve seen so far.
I was involved in plenty of games when we played by far the better rugby and lost. Some of the games against Australia were a perfect example.
At the end of the game you just looked at each other and wonder how the hell you’ve lost.
But this week, it’s down to the senior players like Sam Warburton, Alun Wyn Jones and Jamie Roberts to grab the squad and say, ‘Look, we’ve won these games but we are better than this. We’ve barely played any rugby.’ Right now I’d say Wales are at about 60-70 per cent.
They will also have to sharpen their concentration levels because they are suffering momentary lapses.
Against France we saw Wales concede a late try, as they did against Scotland. And after the way they gifted Ireland an equaliser after working so hard to take the lead – that is a problem. It’s also very unlike Wales who usually back themselves in the final ten minutes.
One thing you can point to are the changes being made late on – which had a hand in all those incidents.
Warren likes to get players involved but I’m old-fashioned and not a fan of making lots of replacements because you lose all momentum. That’s something they cannot afford to do at Twickenham in a fortnight’s time, but I can’t help but feel pretty optimistic.
