Jenkins suffers defeat in Paris with Wales

By Mark Stevens
18/3/23

Wales head coach Warren Gatland believes his side will surprise teams at the World Cup in France later this year.

Wales - who included Exeter Chiefs lock Dafydd Jenkins in their squad - were beaten 41-28 by France in Paris as they suffered a fourth defeat in five games.

Gatland emulated the fifth position of Wayne Pivac's side in last season's Six Nations table.

"We will surprise some teams in the World Cup by how good we will be," said Gatland. "And how much we will improve having that time together to prepare. We are taking steps in the right direction during this campaign, but we have a lot of work to do."

Wales are in a World Cup group with Portugal, Australia, Georgia and Fiji, who they begin their campaign against Fiji in Bordeaux on September 10.

Wales went to Paris having won their first game of the tournament as they beat Italy 29-17 last weekend in Rome. However, they could not replicate that win despite scoring the opening try through George North and gaining a losing bonus point with second-half scores from Bradley Roberts, Tomos Williams and Rio Dyer.

Gatland, who took over from Pivac in December for a second stint in charge, believes Wales will benefit from the time they have spent together over the last two months.

"It was a very short preparation time in terms of meeting with the players, a lot of new players, and trying to find out where we were as a squad," added Gatland. "We realised from the start there's a reasonable amount of work to do in a lot of areas.

"We tried to prioritise some of those and focus on some of those. We're disappointed because there's games there that we will be good enough to win, but we're not there yet.

"We'll continue to do that. We showed some progression in this tournament, which is the most pleasing thing. Today against a team that when they get on top of you, they can punish you. A bit like the All Blacks (and) what they did to England last week.

"The boys didn't capitulate. They showed some heart and character. That's what we're looking for as a starting point. I think there's some real positives to take out of it building forward and I am proud of the boys."