Faletau: Wales' Championship 'too far fetched now'

Taulupe Faletau says that a win against England at Twickenham would not define Wales’ Guinness Six Nations campaign.

The reigning Six Nations champions head to English rugby headquarters on a salvage mission in this season’s tournament.

Defeats against Ireland and France have left hopes of a successful title defence in tatters.

Wales have not lost three games in a row during one Six Nations season since 2007, when they defeated England in Cardiff to avoid a whitewash.

A 27-23 defeat against France on Saturday was their first on home soil in the tournament for three years, while it also ended a seven-game unbeaten Six Nations run at the Principality Stadium.

While France edged closer towards a possible Grand Slam, Wales and their new head coach Wayne Pivac are left to regroup ahead of facing England on March 7.

And life is not about to get any easier, with Wales having last won a Six Nations game at Twickenham in 2012.

Wales number eight Faletau said: “A win over England isn’t going to define our championship – as a group of players we are better than that.

“Winning the championship would have been good, but that is probably too far fetched now.

“It (French defeat) was a disappointing result for us. There were key moments in the game when momentum swung different ways.

“Eventually, when we thought we were on top, I think that intercept (France’s third try) was a key moment in the game, and it took them that bit further away.

“It was a tough Test match. The French were physical, as we expected. We are disappointed with the result.

“We can take positives out of it, we are still building, and hopefully we can put a better performance in next time round.

“It is very frustrating not getting over the line, and we definitely feel we could have won those last two games. It just wasn’t to be.

Old habits dying hard for Shaun. https://t.co/7XqFhRyXPZ

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 23, 2020

“We’ve got England next up, and I don’t think we are going to need any motivation going into that game.”

Wales have almost a fortnight to prepare for England, with wings George North (failed head injury assessment) and Josh Adams (ankle injury) needing close attention.

Saracens back Liam Williams, meanwhile, could possibly come into the selection mix after being sidelined since late October due to an ankle problem.

“That has held them back in the performance because it was not where would have expected, certainly against France."@LewisMoody7 tells @heagneyl he thinks the Saracens elephant might still be in the room #ENGvIRE ?????????https://t.co/3CDkTpFoSI

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 23, 2020

Pivac said: “We don’t like losing, no rugby team likes losing, full stop.

“At home, the boys had built up a very proud record and it’s something that is disappointing not to continue.

“But I think we have got to look at this group to keep building. We are confident we are heading in the right direction.

“It’s about building. We created a lot of opportunities. It’s about taking those opportunities – I think we made seven or eight opportunities.

“If we convert one or two more, we are truly in games and winning.

“You come back to the intercept, three versus one. If we are accurate with our passing, we probably score at the other end.

“That was a big momentum shift. We are frustrated with a couple of decisions we made ourselves after creating opportunities on one or two occasions.”

Press Association