Hook told to speak up

Hook: impressive display

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Wales head coach Warren Gatland has urged James Hook to get more vocal if he is to become one of the best fly-halves in the world.

The Ospreys back played a starring role in Wales' 26-19 win at Twickenham on Saturday, outshining World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson and kicking six goals from six attempts.

According to Gatland, all he lacks is a vocal presence on the field.

"He is a player with an enormous amount of potential and skill," said Gatland.

"The fact he kicked his goals was as important as anything.

"If Wales had kicked their goals against Fiji at the World Cup they would have made the quarter-finals.

"I thought the skill he showed to create the try for Lee Byrne - the footwork, the slight of hand - was quite sensational.

Culture

But with the praise comes some criticism - Gatland and assistant Sean Edwards are determined to instil a winning culture in the Welsh camp.

"You can't just say to the players: 'Fantastic, well done, pat on the back and now let's train'. You need to improve them from week to week," Gatland added. "The message at this level is: 'You have to be accurate'.

"Hook kicked one out on the full, he had a cross kick that put us under all sorts of pressure. Unless we criticise and point out faults, how do you get better?"

Hook had no problem accepting the pointers from Gatland. He already knew Wales' first-half performance at Twickenham was not something to be proud of.

"A lot of the criticism was justified because we didn't play well in the first half, we made a lot of errors, gave away a lot of silly penalties and let England into the game," said Hook.

Mistakes

"The boys know we made a lot of mistakes and were quite lucky to win that game. It will not do us any harm, a little bit of criticism. But we go forward with a lot of confidence.

"In the second half we did what we do best, which is keep the ball in hand, run and use our backs outside. England couldn't cope with it. We only had two opportunities and we took them."

Wales bid to take another step towards a Triple Crown on Saturday when Scotland visit the Millennium Stadium.