Six Nations 2008
Reaction: Wales too strong for Scots
Scrum.com
February 9, 2008
Wales head coach Warren Gatland stalks the Millennium Stadium touchline, Wales v Scotland, Six Nations, Millennium Stadium, February 9 2008.
Warren Gatland insisted that Wales were deserving winners despite Shane Williams' controversial try © Getty Images
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Wales coach Warren Gatland claimed there was only one team trying to play rugby as his team maintained their 100% record in the RBS 6 Nations with a 30-15 triumph over Scotland. Two tries from Shane Williams and one from James Hook earned Wales a deserved win - but they only strode clear in the final quarter as Chris Paterson's flawless kicking kept Scotland in the hunt.

The third and decisive try was also mired in controversy with television replays appearing to show the foot of Williams hitting the touchline before he crossed in the corner.

Scotland coach Frank Hadden felt the decision, given after referee Bryce Lawrence had consulted Italian television match official (TMO) Carlo Damasco, had been crucial but he conceded his team had not done enough to win.

And Gatland insisted Wales were well worth the points at the Millennium Stadium after adding to their opening victory over England. "The guys thoroughly deserved to win,'' Gatland said. "We dominated territory and possession. There was only one team I felt was really trying to play some rugby. Scotland, apart from a couple of minutes, didn't threaten our line.

"I think they made it pretty easy for us, just trying to get something off the ruck, but they didn't make any inroads. They never really threw the ball wide.''

Gatland admitted he had been worried that Paterson's kicking was going to scupper his team despite their hold on possession. But, just as his team took time to get into their stride against England, Gatland believes that their improvement under his tutelage will be a gradual process.

"We are trying to get a bit of shape into our game,'' he said. "We know the way we want to play, it's just a matter of implementing it by the players. I have said it will take two years to be a really good side. When we get there we are going to be pretty good. The skill level is brilliant, the attitude is fantastic. If we continue with the hard work we will get there. I'm pretty sure there is no team in the Six Nations working as hard as we are.

"We have the chance to get the Triple Crown against Ireland, which is great.''

Gatland praised Ospreys winger Williams, who was a constant threat and showed pace and determination to complete his tries. Gatland said: "If I have been critical of him in the past it's the number of turnovers in his game - he will make breaks but throw the ball away, 50-50 passes, lose the ball in contact.

"The pleasing thing was he was very accurate - when he is accurate we know what he can do one-on-one in a bit of space.

But Hadden, who lost skipper Jason White to a first-half head knock, hit out at the decision to award Williams' second try when the score was 20-15. The Scotland coach said: "We weren't playing particularly well, not threatening enough, but we were fighting, hanging in there, doing what you need to do to try to sneak something away from home, when obviously (Scotland had) the bitterly disappointing blow for a second year running with the TMO getting it quite clearly wrong. That gave us a mountain to climb.

"But I don't want to get away from the fact that we didn't play well enough - we didn't hang on to the ball for long enough periods.''

Hadden rebuffed the criticism of his tactics by Gatland, whose opinion on the controversial try was that he "didn't feel sorry for Scotland''. "It's not our job to entertain the crowd,'' Hadden said. "We came to win, we had a good idea of what we had to do. If we had held on to a little ball, instead of being two down with 20 minutes to go, we might have found ourselves in a better position.''

Captain Ryan Jones insists Wales' historic RBS 6 Nations win at Twickenham would have meant nothing had they failed to follow it up with victory over Scotland today. Warren Gatland's men made it two wins from two in this year's competition with a 30-15 success at the Millennium Stadium.

"To get any win was fantastic for us,'' said Jones. "If we didn't win this weekend, last weekend would have meant nothing. We've got the result we deserved and we've taken a step forward,'' he told BBC1. "All the guys have worked hard over the past couple of weeks. We're two from two so no-one can ask any more than that.''

Williams' second try, which arrived when Wales led 20-15, was shrouded in controversy. It was a sensational run by the wing, but replays showed he had strayed into touch before grounding the ball. Man of the match Martyn Williams, who stepped out of international retirement to play in this year's Six Nations, insists the skill deserved the score.

"It was never in doubt!'' he joked. "The effort deserved a try. That was a great finish, a world-class finish and I think it was the crucial point of the game.'' Williams agreed with his skipper that following up their victory over England was paramount today.

"It was vitally important,'' he said. "If we hadn't backed up last week's result, it would have been a huge anti-climax.'' Williams credited the impact of Wales' new coaching team for their resurgence but also admitted luck was playing a factor. He said: "A few 50-50 bounces are going our way and at the moment we're having a little bit of luck, so long may it continue.''

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