Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
John Jones

BBC pundits tear into 'clueless' Wales as Jiffy identifies 'huge problem' in Scotland defeat

Jonathan Davies has criticised Wales' "clueless" and "desperate" attacking play after Warren Gatland's side were blown away by Scotland at Murrayfield.

After the humbling round-one defeat at home to Ireland, Warren Gatland's visitors were looking to bounce back and get their first win of the Six Nations in Edinburgh, but were torn apart as Scotland scored five tries with talisman Finn Russell running the show.

Wales were wasteful in attack as they saw a number of golden chances to get back into the game squandered, with Scotland dominating set-pieces and issues of discipline rearing their head once again with Liam Williams sent to the bin for a second successive week.

READ MORE: The reasons Wales were just hammered by Scotland as myths busted and basics go missing

While Scotland deserved the praise that was rightly directed their way following the win, the other major talking point after the game was Wales' lack of cutting edge in attack, and Jiffy didn't hold back as he and fellow BBC pundits Martin Johnson and John Barclay tore into the visitors' attacking game.

While he praised the efforts of Wales' forwards, particularly the young trio of Jac Morgan, Tommy Reffell and Christ Tshiunza, Jiffy was not so complimentary of the backs, as he claimed Wales' attacking play was "one-dimensional" and "desperate to see". However, while he said the lack of accuracy in attack was "a huge problem", he admitted he wasn't sure how it would be solved.

"The effort that was there today, the youngsters stood up and they will be the future of the Welsh forwards," he told host Gabby Logan. "My problem is the lack of creativity behind. That has been our problem for a number of years and today they were one-dimensional, they weren’t accurate, slightly clueless to be honest.

"It's been a number of years since we've seen Wales play creative, open, attacking rugby. We’ve always been dogged, we’ve always hung in there, the forwards have always gone well, but once we get behind we’ve never been able to chase a game. Today we fought in the first half, we should have been in front maybe, but again the accuracy wasn’t there.

"It’s going to be a huge problem, but who do we bring in? We haven’t got the strength of depth that Scotland and Ireland have got. What happens then is, the regions aren’t winning, we’re not developing players, but you look at the Scottish regions, Edinburgh and Glasgow are going well. So it’s a problem."

With the Scotland defeat is the latest in a string of embarrassing results for Wales, Jiffy was left questioning whether Wales actually have a plan of what to do when they are in the opposition 22, after they let several opportunities pass them by while deep in the Scottish half.

"They've lost to Italy, they’ve lost to Georgia, they were 21 points up against Australia and they lost that and then we’ve had the last two games of the Six Nations. I think Warren Gatland said they had six minutes in the opposition 22.

"What do they actually do in training to get over [the line]? If they're going to spend that much time in the 22, they must have some kind of tactic, backs interacting with the forwards which Ireland and Scotland do. But then even the backs, it's so one-dimensional, it's desperate to see sometimes."

"The way that we play, I just don't get it," he added. "Because we can't keep possession and we don't turn pressure into points, we put pressure on ourselves then because it's frustration and then when the opposition gets momentum and they score, we chase and chase and it’s desperation sometimes."

Both Barclay and Johnson were in full agreement with the former Wales international, with the Scotsman criticising the lack of Welsh creativity going forward before the World Cup-winning captain claimed the "fantastic" Welsh pack were "let down by what was going on behind them".

"Wales scored one try against Ireland at the Principality when the game was done and they scored one try here in a maul when Scotland were a man down," said Barclay. "They could have taken that Rio Dyer try, apart from that though, I think you’re totally right, [there was a] lack of creativity, accuracy, structure, innovation."

Agreeing with Jiffy, Johnson added: "Jonathan's right, those Welsh forwards really got themselves into the game. They worked incredibly hard, they got stuck in but they got no reward.

"Jonathan was saying, 'don't kick the ball away', but I was saying it’s the best option, because your attack in the first half is so poor, you’re losing the ball when you win it. Scotland have got firepower in van der Merwe and guys who when they’ve got the ball can beat the player, they’ve got structure in their attack and they know what they’re trying to do. Wales have got neither at the moment."

"It's just a blunt attack that’s trying to bludgeon themselves over, you can't do that," he added. "There will be tougher defences than Scotland for them to face. They’re just lacking something in attack right now."

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.