Gatland’s desperate to stop the rot

Wales have suddenly turned into a penalty machine and Warren Gatland says he has got to find a way to stop the rot.

Having conceded 21 penalties against Ireland in Round 1 of the Six Nations, when they were beaten 34-10 in Cardiff, they coughed up another 19 at Murrayfield yesterday as they went down to a record defeat to the rampant Scots.

“We gave away 19 penalties and that is not acceptable. We also spent six minutes in their 22 and we didn't come away with much, which is pretty disappointing,” said Gatland. “This is one of the strongest Scottish sides I have seen and they are playing with confidence. Sometimes winning becomes a habit, the problem is that so does losing. We just have to stay tight and find a way to get through this. At half time we talked about putting them under pressure in their 22. We had some strong carries, but then got tur ned over.

Star turn: Finn Russell

“We were probably guilty of playing a bit too much rugby in the middle third and we only kicked the ball 23 times. That was the same as against Ireland, yet both of them kicked significantly more than us.”

While Gatland admitted he felt let down by his players for going away from the principles he asked them to work on – discipline was high on the agenda, being clincial was another and also creating opportunities.

They also had two yellow cards. He wanted them to be clinical when chances came their way, but they scored only one try despite dominating territory and possession in the first half.

Gatland: We gave away far too many penalties

“People called for changes and we did that. Now they' ll be doing the same again – sometimes it's a lose, lose situation,” added Gatland.

“I though Dafydd Jenkins was good and Christ Tshiunza carried hard. That was very positive for us and I was happy with their perfor mances.”

Wales skipper Ken Owens is still waiting for his first win in charge and he wants the team to stay tight over the next two weeks as they build towards a home game with England.

“We had a lot of changes in the pack and I thought the boys there really showed their potential of where we are trying to go,” said Owens,

“We had a really good first half perfor mance and we were a lot better and bit unlucky not to go in ahead at half-time. We delivered everything we spoke about but in the second half we made back-to-back errors and put pressure on ourselves.

“You give a team like Scotland those chances, especially when they are full of confidence after the win against England, they are going to punish you. We had a lot of changes in the pack and I thought the boys there really showed their potential”

Scotland fly-half Finn Russell said: “It's a great game and a great result for us. I think the boys put in a great performance which was great to have back here at Murrayfield. I was just doing my job out there – making other boys look good! The boys are all on the same page and our attack was really good. A good perfor mance all round.”

Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie added: “I couldn't ask for more from the crowd, they were awesome. Again it wasn't perfect but we did enough to get the job done, so we are delighted.

“The first game here without [Doddie Weir], I'm glad we could do this for Kathy and the boys today. We have belief that, if we play to our best, we can beat any team. We will be looking to improve when we go Paris, definitely.”