Six Nations 2024: Wales comeback offers hope against England - Aaron Wainwright
- Published
Aaron Wainwright believes Wales can find a blueprint for beating England in the Six Nations on Saturday.
The Wales back-rower produced a man of the match display despite his team's agonising 27-26 loss to Scotland.
Wainwright scored the third of Wales' four tries in a remarkable comeback that fell short in Cardiff.
But he insisted young Wales must learn the lessons in time for their visit to Twickenham, where they have not won in nine years.
"We need to be more accurate. We didn't keep the ball, whether it was down to execution or role knowledge, and we need to fix that," he said.
"But one of the most encouraging things was how we kept fighting and put ourselves in with a chance to win. That's going to give us momentum for next week.
"We need to take the energy of the second half, build it within ourselves and make sure we're ready from the first whistle.
"We have to make sure it doesn't take a first half like that to get going because we can't start like that next week.
"That second-half performance will give us confidence and if we can replicate that for the full 80, that's exciting."
James Botham, Rio Dyer and Alex Mann scored the other tries as Wales clawed their way back from 27-0 down with a shock recovery that came within a point of becoming the biggest comeback in Six Nations history.
However the inquest into the opening 45 minutes will be brutal.
Warren Gatland branded the first half one of the worst he has been involved in as Wales failed to score in the first half of a Six Nations game for the first time.
Wainwright admitted "first game nerves" may have affected Wales with three players making their championship debuts and two more making a return to Test rugby after almost three years out.
"It wasn't the start we wanted but we showed what we can do when we start putting some stuff together," he said.
"Warren spoke at half-time about [fewer] unforced errors and being more direct with the ball.
"So we backed ourselves. We knew we had to keep digging in because there was a long way to go and the boys coming off the bench made a huge impact to change momentum. We just needed a bit more composure at the end.
"We lost but those are the sort of games you want to be involved in. You get the scoreboard ticking, the belief is building and the crowd are roaring, it was amazing.
"Another five minutes and we probably would have got the win. That's the bitter disappointment. Next week we need to go with full energy and accuracy."
Wales have not won at Twickenham since the 2015 World Cup while England kicked off their Six Nations with a 27-24 victory against Italy.