Wayne Pivac took charge of his first Wales game on Saturday as they defeated Warren Gatland’s Barbarians. Robert Rees brings you all the latest from the Welsh camp as Pivac gave his reaction post-match.
Pleasing debut for Pivac’s crew
“It’s fantastic from our point of view, the game itself, we’ve had a week together now where we’ve put some building blocks on how we want to play in the Six Nations. There’s a lot of work gone on and a lot of learning and an opportunity for us all to meet.
“Justin [Tipuric] here, I’ve only been able to say good day and shaken his hand after a club game. So to spend the week together in and around the environment was fantastic.
“To have the game at the end of it, we’ve learned a lot. We’ll go away and review that game now and see how the boys fared and that’ll help for the squad selection going into the Six Nations.”
Pleasing attacking force under new regime
“We’re very pleased to score 43 points. I thought 20 minutes after half time when it was 33-7 we were looking pretty good and we were happy where things were at. We made a some changes and there were lots of reset scrums and the game went stop start.
“We were disappointed to concede some tries but pleased to get the win and walk away and have something to get our teeth into.”
Six Nations squad – Time to put hands up
“The first thing we’ll do is go away and review the game, have a look at the whole week and how guys were in the environment. It’s been a valuable week.
“We also had a lot of players in the stands. Those guys will look forward to coming back into the fold and we’ve got some players outside of Wales to consider.”
Italy first up in Six Nations
“I think it’s a pretty good draw from our point of view. Hopefully we’ll get the win and have another two weeks to work with the players and we get off to a winning start.”
The Cardiff welcome for Pivac
“I loved it and it rammed home on how big this is going to be. To see all the people lining the streets for a BaaBaa’s match was tremendous and the ride in was certainly an enjoyable one.
Pivac family proud of Wayne
“I think the boys are pretty proud of their old man, just as most families would be of their guys out there putting the jersey on. I think coaches and management are no exception, we’re very aware of the responsibilities we have and the support from our families.”
Wayne Pivac bringing fresh attacking blueprint
“Stephen’s [Jones] done a lot of good work in the week with the guys. It’s a lot of information to take in over just one week and the opposition were in the same boat.
“Our boys know each other a little better so we had an advantage there. Scoring those 43 points is a sign of some of the things we want to do, obviously we have to tidy up our defence and we’ll have a good look at that.
“The boys have been excellent. Our preparation has been superb, the guys put in a lot of effort and there was a lot of learning to be done and a lot of people meeting each other for the first time. I’m just pleased we could get the win and put the game behind us and look forward to the Six Nations.”
Message to players as they head back to regions
“We just talked briefly about the process of everyone being reviewed on this performance and their club performances between now and the naming of the squad.
“There are some derbies coming up and they’ll be very important and just making sure players take away the messages from this week and I’ll be speaking to the club coaches as well and giving them feedback once we’ve reviewed the performance.”
McNicholl over the moon by try-scoring debut
“He’s over the moon and loved every bit of it. To cap it off by scoring a try, he’s very happy.”
“Main photo credit”
