Warren Gatland wants patience as Wales chase down record against Italy

Wales got their Six Nations off to a flying start with their comeback win against France

Warren Gatland believes that patience will be key when Wales chase a record-equalling win in Rome next Saturday.

Gatland’s squad has relocated from Paris – the scene of Friday’s Guinness Six Nations victory over France – to the Cote d’Azur and a beach-front base in Nice.

It is from there that head coach Gatland will plot the second phase of the Six Nations campaign, which is off and running thanks to Wales overturning a 16-0 interval deficit and scoring 24 second-half points against Les Bleus.

If Wales topple Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in six days they will match their all-time longest unbeaten run of 11 Tests, set between 1907 and 1910.

That sequence was ended by England at Twickenham, who are Wales’ next opponents after Italy in what will be a high-octane Cardiff clash on February 23.

Gatland, though, is looking no further ahead than an appointment with Italy, who began their Six Nations campaign by losing 33-20 to Scotland.

“They can make it difficult for you, and the weather conditions might play a big part,” he said.

“The last time I was there in 2015 (Gatland was preparing for the British and Irish Lions’ New Zealand tour two years later) it was 14-13 at half-time, and we scored 47 points in the second half, so you have just got to keep your patience.

“If we can win our first two games away from home, it sets us up nicely.”

Gatland looks likely to make changes for the Italy encounter as Wales target a 13th successive win against them. They have not lost to the Azzurri since 2007.

Players like Owen Watkin, Dan Biggar, Samson Lee and Aaron Wainwright could effectively come into the starting XV selection mix.

“We’ve brought a squad of 31 with us,” Gatland added. “The ideal scenario would be to involve the other players who weren’t involved (against France), whether they start or are on the bench.

“The whole thing for the last few years has been about creating depth in the squad. We are trying to replicate what’s going to happen at the World Cup later this year.

“We would like other players to get an opportunity next week. Some might start, and some might be on the bench.”

With the dust still settling after Wales’ stunning turnaround at the Stade de France, Gatland praised his players’ character.

George North celebrates scoring his second try for Wales (AP)

“It’s a big thing,” he added. “Good teams can dig themselves out of holes, and we are starting to do that.

“Even though we were poor in that first half, we didn’t look like we were panicking or trying to force something.

“We dug ourselves out of a poor situation by just going back to doing the things that we needed to do. There was no ranting and raving at half-time from the coaches. The players knew.

“We were much better in the second half and just felt that if we put France under some pressure that the momentum would swing towards us and we would continue to build on confidence and they would probably lack a little bit of confidence.

“The message before the game was ‘I don’t think France believe they can beat us’, but if we allowed them the opportunity to get some confidence then it was going to be a tough night.

“The other thing we talked about was keeping the tempo up.

“We felt that some of the French players just before half-time were starting to tire a little bit, so it was important we wanted to move their forwards around.”