Ireland game took it out of me says Wales centre Jonathan Davies

Sky Sports' Jonathan Davies talks about the aftermath of the Ireland game and takes a look at the challenge facing Wales in Rome

It’s always a bit easier to write these after a win!

That Ireland game took a lot out of me but I was pleased with the way it went. As a team we showed how much it meant to us - we had to dig in pretty deep at times. To come out the other side with a win showed character and emphasised that we are still a very good team.

In terms of where the game was won for us, well thankfully Leigh Halfpenny knows how to kick a rugby ball pretty well. We got off to a really good start, 12 points in about as many minutes and it forced Ireland to play more rugby than they possibly had in the other games in the tournament. 

We’d love to go out and throw the ball around and see how many tries we can score but that is a very quick way to lose a game of rugby against a team that will punish you for being too loose.

Leigh’s boot was only half of it though, the pressure put on the Irish was what created those points.

A big thing for us was concentrating on our defensive structures for the first three to four phases of every possession. Ireland coach Joe Schmidt likes to put together mini plays within a game. So we made sure we always weathered those, and thereafter we backed ourselves individually to seal off any threat from loose play.

When it gets to multiple phases like that it’s more difficult to score because the players aren’t always on the same page, they’re trying to create something and their team might not be there to support them.

By doing that we were able to pressurise them when they had the ball. It was good to take control and keep them out, albeit with a penalty try. Having to walk off after a yellow card with two minutes to go was not a nice feeling at all. I was just glad the boys were able to dig in and finish them off.

Outstanding

I thought our forwards were outstanding on the day. They were stealing the ball at crucial times and kept taking the sting out of the Irish attack.

The boys were still a bit battered and bruised by the time Monday rolled around, but we were back together and identified a few times in that game where we left points on the field, which this week we will look to rectify. Tuesday we were on the field for practice but only for short, intense sessions rather than drawn-out ones. Preparation is important but so is rest!

We spoke about the fact that as a backline squad we haven’t quite fired in the way we would have wanted to by now. When Saturday comes we will have to be clinical. The pack always works tirelessly for us and we need to repay them.

There is the obvious issue of points difference coming into it this weekend but we can’t really give it too much focus. Against Italy if we try to play too much, too quickly we will come unstuck. What we’ve said is that we need to go out there with the same mentality as the Ireland game - we need to start well and put them under pressure and capitalise when they make mistakes in their endeavours.

Controlled

Italy are a proud and passionate rugby nation, particularly in Rome, so we aren’t taking anything for granted. We aren’t going there with the mentality to win by a certain amount, we just want to win.

We’d love to go out and throw the ball around and see how many tries we can score but that is a very quick way to lose a game of rugby against a team that will punish you for being too loose. It’s going to be a controlled matter at the start, which we can hopefully build on as the game goes on.

On a separate not, the year is flying by. Saturday marks the final competitive match before the World Cup later in the year. I’d say we are pretty happy with our preparation so far. Apart from the huge disappointment of the England defeat we have shown that we are only getting better which the coaches will be happy to see in such an important year.

We’re backing ourselves to do well in the World Cup but we haven’t started talking too much about that yet. We still have a difficult trip to Rome to navigate and I'm looking forward to it!