Six Nations Championship
Edwards hails Welsh preparation
Scrum.com
February 3, 2009
Shaun Edwards has been pleased with Wales' efforts in training
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Wales coach Shaun Edwards has hailed his side's preparations for the Six Nations as "exceptional". The reigning Grand Slam champions face a difficult first game away to Scotland at Murrayfield but Edwards is pleased with their progress as head coach Warren Gatland prepares to name his side for the game on Wednesday. "I can only talk about what I have seen in the past eight days, and that has been absolutely exceptional," he said. "We did a lot of hard work last week with some pretty brutal training sessions. Some of them were as tough, if not tougher, than a game. "You need a constant hunger to improve and be constantly challenging yourself and those around you. You need to be in an environment that, at times, can be a little uncomfortable - where you don't settle for second-best. We have those sort of characters in the Wales squad. But it's also that we have a pretty healthy squad. If you had told me that, after the autumn internationals, this would be the squad we had for Scotland, we would have been very happy. "There is a lot of competition for the nines, 10s, the midfield and all over the pitch really. No one can be too comfortable because, if they get too comfortable, someone else will be in their spot." Cardiff Blues wing Leigh Halfpenny looks set to win his first Six Nations cap after an impressive showing in the autumn, while there will be an interesting battle in the centres as Ospreys Gavin Henson and Andrew Bishop are competing with Cardiff pair Tom Shanklin and Jamie Roberts for the two spots. With so much competition Wales look set to improve further this season, but Edwards will not hear any talk of Grand Slams. "You just have to keep your hunger to improve," he said. "If you keep improving on the core basics of rugby, the titles and trophies will follow on from it. If you start thinking about the end outcome, trying to go for a second Grand Slam, you forget about the process of actually getting there. "That process is working hard in training, providing an honest analysis of games and doing the job on the field. Our focus is very much on Scotland and the next training session. I am a big believer in the here and now, and making sure we nail each individual training session. "Warren has stated many, many times that we want to be regarded as one of the best teams in the world - and to do that we know we need to improve on where we are now. Results against the southern hemisphere in the autumn proved the northern hemisphere has a bit of catching up to do, even if I think we performed admirably in all of the games. "But admirably isn't good enough. There is no room for complacency with these players - not after the way we trained last week and with the standards Warren sets for himself, the coaches and the players." And his cautious mood is underpinned by Scotland's autumn displays when they ran world champions South Africa close and also threatened New Zealand in spells before losing 32-6. "We all know this first game is a huge one and a massive, massive potential banana skin," said the Wales defence specialist. "Scotland performed very well in the autumn. I watched them against the All Blacks, and I've never seen a game so misrepresented by the scoreline. "They pushed South Africa very hard as well, and up at Murrayfield - particularly in these (current) conditions - they are going to be a force to be reckoned with." Edwards' ferocious defence saw Wales to glory last time out as they conceded only two tries in the whole tournament, but Edwards is not sure that they can be quite as frugal this time around. "There is no doubt, defensively, it probably went beyond our wildest dreams last year - only conceding two tries," he said. "Whether we can be as accurate as that, I don't know. We are always hopeful, But in the end the game is judged on whether you win or lose. Obviously, as defence coach, I'm happiest when they [opponents] don't score any tries - but so long as we win, that's the main thing." © Scrum.com
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