Wales head coach Wayne Pivac is optimistic his side can deliver an improved performance in two weeks’ time against France, after suffering a disappointing Guinness Six Nations defeat at the hands of Ireland.
Pivac lost his first game in charge as Wales boss as Ireland recorded a fourth win in five games with a 24-14 triumph on Saturday.
Tries from Jordan Larmour, Tadhg Furlong, Josh van der Flier and Andrew Conway gave Andy Farrell’s side a bonus-point victory in Dublin.
“I think it’s an opportunity for us to look at our game when we’re under pressure and see where we have to work harder for the next match,” said Pivac.
“It is a tournament and we’ve got another three matches to look forward to. We’ll be working very hard to get the areas right that we need to so we can put on a better performance next time around.
“So we have to go away and work hard at our game and make sure we are a little bit better in those areas for the French game.”
Despite displaying glimpses of promise with Tomos Williams’ first half try and Justin Tipuric’s effort late on, Wales made 18 handling errors at the Aviva Stadium, which Pivac’s described as ‘unacceptable’.
But an area the New Zealander highlighted for improvement ahead of the France clash was his side’s clinical edge.
“We need to look after the ball better when we’ve got it and make sure we’re a lot more accurate at what we do,” added Pivac.
“We turned the ball over eight times through handling and conceded two turnovers at the breakdown, which is too many – so there’s plenty to work on.
“When we’ve got the ball, we’ve got to look after it and build pressure. At the end of that usually comes some points.”
Captain Alun Wyn Jones has stressed that change can ‘take a while to implement’ as they look to rebuild from Warren Gatland’s 12-year tenure in charge.
“There’s a lot of familiar faces here and the fans have been really good to us for a long time,” said Jones, who won his 136th cap for Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
“But when change comes, sometimes it can take a while to implement and people forget that.
“So while we’re focusing on us, it’s also no excuse to lose a rugby game.”
