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Some worrying trends have emerged from Wales’ opening two Nations Championship matches
Dan Biggar says there is “a lot of work to do” for Wales’ coaching team after some startling statistics emerged from their opening two Nations Championship matches.
After securing a six-try bonus point win over Fiji in Cardiff in the opening round of the inaugural tournament earlier this month, Steve Tandy’s side fell to defeat against Argentina in San Juan on Saturday, with the Pumas running out 35-21 winners in what ultimately proved to be a comfortable victory for the hosts.
Speaking alongside Ireland legend Ronan O’Gara on ITV’s The Debrief with Dan and ROG, Biggar admitted that the defeat to Argentina – and victory over the Flying Fijians – was reflective of where Welsh rugby is currently.
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“I think it just reaffirmed where Wales are in the world rankings,” he said. “Fiji, Japan and Italy [are] ticked off, brilliant. That’s the next step then, when you play against that next category of teams. They were a little bit short.”
However, with the Springboks up next for Wales this weekend, Biggar pointed to a series of worrying statistics from the Fiji and Argentina games which show that urgent action is required in key areas of their defensive game.
Of the 12 teams taking part in the Nations Championship, Tandy’s side are bottom of the pile in terms of metres conceded and linebreaks conceded, at 1,192 and 39 respectively across the opening two games.
Just as worrying is the number of missed tackles from Wales during the Fiji and Argentina matches, with their total of 73 seeing them ranked 11th in the tournament overall.
Tandy’s side are also one from bottom in terms of carries conceded (329) and Biggar says it is “impossible” to win games at Test level with such poor defensive statistics.
The former fly-half then admitted that there is “a lot of work to do” for Tandy and his defence coach Peter Murchie – who joined his backroom team ahead of the Nations Championship – in order to address the major shortcomings.
“The one thing you would say is, for them to get the next scalp, whether it’s a Scotland, Argentina or an England type of thing, they have to improve this,” he said, as a graphic of Wales’ defensive stats appeared on screen.
“Carries conceded, metres conceded, I mean nearly 1,200 in two games. 39 line breaks in two games. Missed tackles, 73 in two games.
“It is impossible to win Test match rugby against top opposition [with those statistics],” he added. “So there’s a lot of work for Peter Murchie and Steve Tandy to do there.”
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