Pivac shields North from blame after latest low-key performance

Wayne Pivac says there will be no panic as Wales look to regroup in this season’s Guinness Six Nations Championship.

Wales will get their campaign back on track if they beat France at the Principality Stadium in 13 days’ time.

But it will be a severe examination for Pivac’s men as they aim to recover quickly from a 24-14 defeat against Ireland in Dublin.

“We certainly don’t panic,” Wales head coach Pivac said.

“We have got to review the game. The guys are disappointed in not taking the opportunities that presented themselves in the game.

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“We are obviously frustrated with our performance. We have a couple of weeks now to reflect on that so that we are a lot better in our next performance.”

Whether Pivac makes changes for the France clash remains to be seen, but 93 times-capped wing George North was among those who could make little impact on the contest.

North’s frustrating afternoon was highlighted near the end when he knocked on inside his own 22, and Ireland subsequently took advantage of an attacking platform to score a bonus-point try.

“At the end you look at the inaccurate pass (to North),” Pivac added.

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“He (North) is thinking about having a one-on-one go late in the game to try and score a try the length of the field.

“When you take a pass on your shoulder behind you it’s probably not the best pass. We won’t blame George for that.

“We’ve got plenty to learn from that game, so we need to work hard on different aspects of the game to play the play we want to play.

“We have to be very accurate, so that is basic catch-pass skills, body height in contact and to make sure we are winning more contacts as well.”

Wales’ defeat in Dublin was their first Six Nations loss since Ireland beat them two years ago, but Pivac knows that a lot can happen during the next three rounds of fixtures.

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After hosting France, Wales meet England at Twickenham before ending the tournament at home to Scotland.

“We are two games in and are obviously disappointed as the players know we are a lot better than that performance,” he said.

“It is a competition. No-one has won it – it’s not won after two rounds – so we need to make sure we keep improving and against France we have a very good performance and we get back to winning ways.

“The competition itself is going to be a very tight one this year. You can see that already.

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“We’ve mentioned that we need to be more accurate with the ball, build more pressure, and to do that you build phases and don’t turn the ball over after one or two phases.

“We have to be a lot more accurate with what we are doing with the ball.

“I was impressed with their (France’s) performance against England. They played very well with the ball in that first half, and then defended very well in the second half.

“It was a great start for them.”

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