Rugby Union - Rugby World Cup 2023 warm up - Wales v England - Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Britain - August 5, 2023 Wales head coach Warren Gatland before the match Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley
CARDIFF (Reuters) - Wales coach Warren Gatland predicted "something special" from his side ahead of their Rugby World Cup warm-up against England, and they delivered a commanding second half performance to claim a 20-9 victory in Cardiff.
Gatland has seen his side struggle since he took over the reins for a second time in December last year, and having selected an inexperienced match-day 23 he admitted he had some nerves.
"I was a little bit apprehensive this morning as I wasn't quite sure how things were going to go. I know the players have been working hard and I was looking for a performance and it was a good start today," he told Amazon Prime.
"(Winning) wasn't important at all, it was the performance I was more interested in and I thought those guys out there gave us a performance, some really good individuals, and I thought the last 20 minutes we just looked comfortable."
England led 9-6 at halftime but were denied more points despite numerous entries into the Wales 22, in part due to their own wastefulness in possession but also some excellent cover defence from Wales.
After the break the home side began to impose themselves and scored 14 unanswered points following tries by Gareth Davies and George North.
"I thought (number eight) Aaron Wainwright was excellent, (captain) Jac Morgan was excellent, I thought our two second rows were outstanding," Gatland said.
"Scrums were a bit messy, we need a bit more clarification around that, and I thought young (flyhalf) Sam Costelow grew into the game and he'll learn from that experience.
"One of the things about test match rugby is you can't coach experience."
Gatland will be concerned by injuries for hooker Ryan Elias, lock Dafydd Jenkins and replacement loose-forward Taine Plumtree.
"They’ll be scanned on Monday. Ryan looks like a slight hamstring tear but hopefully it’s not too serious," the coach said.
"Daf, we’re hoping isn’t too serious a knee injury. Taine rolled his ankle and we wanted to get him off."
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
