Scotland win will benefit Wales as they chase coveted Wallabies scalp, says Gareth Davies

Andrew Baldock 17:37 04/11/2018
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  • Gareth Davies believes that Wales will benefit considerably from their autumn series opener against Scotland.

    A 21-10 victory at the Principality Stadium meant that Wales launched an autumn series with a win for the first time since 2002, when they beat Romania in Wrexham.

    Rugby Championship opponents Australia and South Africa are also on the November agenda – either side of an appointment with Tonga – and Wales scrum-half Davies is happy to be off and running.

    “It is a big thing,” he said. “We normally play a southern hemisphere team first-up after they have finished the Rugby Championship.

    “They have been playing together for months, and we normally come in cold. It (Scotland game) was not the prettiest of games, but there is plenty to work on and I am sure we will be better next week.

    “If you look at the form of Glasgow and Edinburgh in the last couple of months and you put those two teams together, it makes for a very strong Scottish side. We are very happy to come away with that result.”

    Jonathan Davies made a try-scoring return to the Wales team.

    Jonathan Davies made a try-scoring return to the Wales team.

    While Wales have now beaten Scotland 10 times on the bounce at home, they last toppled Australia in 2008, losing 13 successive Tests.

    And while the Wallabies only finished third in this year’s Rugby Championship, suffering four defeats from six games, they have a repetitive knack of defeating Wales.

    “We haven’t had the best strike-rate against Australia, but we cannot dwell on that,” Davies added.

    “We have to train well and go into the game firing. We’ve had a tough couple of weeks training and we have a game under our belts now, so we won’t have any excuses.”

    Wales are currently on a six-Test unbeaten run – their best results sequence since 2012 – but it is 13 years since they won seven in a row.

    “We had a good couple of wins out in Argentina in the summer. There were a couple of boys left at home, and a lot of young boys had opportunities,” added Davies.

    “Those boys stepped up and we talk about the strength in depth we have in the squad. It’s an exciting squad to be in, and it is a massive 12 months for us building towards the World Cup.”

    Davies also praised the efforts of Wales centre Jonathan Davies – British & Irish Lions player of the series in New Zealand last year – who made a try-scoring return to the Test arena following a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

    “It is great to have him back,” the scrum-half added. “It has been 12 months since he last pulled on a Welsh jersey.

    “The try worked well. We had a couple of options with Gareth Anscombe at the back with a few different ideas, and he picked the one with Jonathan going short.

    “We have seen that hand-off (from Davies) a few times, and we know he is a tough man to tackle when he is running at full steam.”

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