Former international referee Nigel Owens has told William Hill that Wales played well and should have beaten France in the Six Nations last week, only for their try-scoring ability to let them down, which he feels they will need to work on before facing Italy on Saturday and heading into next year’s World Cup.
Wales were on the wrong end of a tight 13-9 defeat to France last time out, with the Six Nations holders’ inconsistent campaign due to finish this weekend when they host Italy.
“Wales should have beaten France,” the Welshman told William Hill. “If Jonathan Davies had caught that ball and scored that try, I think they probably would have won. France were rattled.
“I’ve said all along that my only question mark around France is when they get rattled, have they got the experience of your (Owen) Farrells, (Jonathan) Sextons, or (Dan) Biggars to close games out? Have they got that ability to control things and dig in and get this game home? That is my question mark over France and on Friday night against Wales they showed that’s where they are vulnerable.”
Owens added: “Apart from the Irish game and the first half against England, I was impressed with Wales against Scotland, hugely impressed with the second half against England, which they could have won, and very impressed against France. They really did play well against France. The only thing that let them down was that ability to score a couple of tries.
“They needed a Louis Rees-Zammit on a little sooner. That’s where they were missing the likes of Shane Williams, somebody who can beat players, do something brilliant and score tries. That’s where Wales are falling short at the moment. They have the players to do it and If they can get that back into their game, and the ability to score tries, they will be going out to next year’s World Cup, not as the favourites, but capable of beating anyone on their day. But we need to see that ability of being able to score tries.”
While Owens is hoping to see a more ruthless Wales side against Italy at the Principality Stadium this weekend, he’s not expecting it to be a walk in the park for the home side.
“I wouldn’t say it’ll be a walkthrough for Wales,” he said. “Yes, Italy haven’t been good this year, but they have improved on what they were last year. They showed glimpses, scored quite a few tries against Scotland and there wasn’t too much in the final result, though Scotland did win comfortably in the end. But Italy showed glimpses of what they can do there, so Wales won’t be taking anything for granted.
“I think Wales will be focusing on controlling the game, getting some points on the board, getting a lead. Then when there’s a bit of a buffer in it, then they may open up a bit and score a few tries. They are capable of beating Italy well in the Principality Stadium but it’s certainly not a forgone conclusion. They won’t be taking Italy lightly as if they do, they could be in trouble.”
