Warren Gatland hails ‘unpredictable’ Six Nations

Warren Gatland looks on as Wales prepare for their Six Nations clash with Scotland. Picture: AP

Gatland looked on as his team revived their title hopes with a tense 26-23 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield.

It followed an opening round home loss to England, and means they remain in the race for silverware behind unbeaten title favourites England and Ireland.

“What makes this championship so exciting is the ability for any team to beat each other,” Gatland said.

“There is a little bit of a gap with Italy, but the others are all capable on their day.

“As a sports lover, you don’t want predictability. People come out to watch these games because it’s exciting and can go either way.”

Gatland was pleased that his side showed an improvement from the England game. On that occasion, Wales failed to score a second-half point.

Tries by scrum-half Rhys Webb and centre Jonathan Davies underpinned Wales’ win, while full-back Leigh Halfpenny kicked 16 points.

• Ref calls time on Scotland comeback against Wales

Scotland posted touchdowns by Stuart Hogg and Jon Welsh, with skipper Greig Laidlaw booting 11 points and fly-half Finn Russell adding a late conversion.

“We went out and played more rugby than last week, and the possession and territory were pretty favourable,” Gatland added.

“The disappointing thing was we had chances to put the game to bed and we allowed them back into the game. We were relieved more than anything with the win and to get the campaign back on track.

“Probably both sides felt some decisions went their way, and others didn’t.

“At this level it’s difficult, and you have to back the judgement of the referee and the TMO (television match official) to make those decisions.

“I understand Scotland would have been aggrieved at a couple of calls, and it was the same with us. It was a tough competitive game, and both sides competed at the breakdown.”

Two players were yellow-carded in the game - Russell and Davies - with Russell being sin-binned for a mid-air challenge on his opposite number Dan Biggar.

“My initial reaction was the first one (Russell) was red, and the second one I am not sure,” Gatland said.

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“But I am looking at it from a Welsh perspective. Again, he (referee) has made the call and you have to live with the decision and move on.

“In fairness to Scotland they did not give in and kept fighting until the end. It is the toughest Scotland team we have faced for a number of years. We didn’t expect a walk in the park.”

Scotland head coach Vern Cotter cut a frustrated figure after seeing his team suffer a second successive defeat of this season’s tournament.

“There are a lot of things we don’t have control of,” Cotter said.

“I don’t want to lose a lot of energy talking about it because it isn’t going to change the result.

“Somebody will look at the referee display or decisions made on the paddock. We have things to sort out, and perhaps they will have as well.

“There were three penalties inside their 22 in the last 15 minutes. I thought some of those errors might have been cynical as well and maybe deserved a yellow card, but obviously not.

“That is the way it is. We deal with reality.”

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