6 Nations Round 1: Welshman Thomas struggling to accept defeat

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05th February 2007 : 6 Nations Round 1: Welshman Thomas struggling to accept defeat

Rhys Thomas stayed awake until the early hours of Monday morning mulling over Wales' 19-9 RBS 6 Nations defeat to Ireland - and watching the Super Bowl.

The American showpiece would only have deepened the Wales hooker's frustration. Thomas watched the Indianapolis Colts recover from the hammer blow of conceding a touchdown straight from the kick-off to beat the Chicago Bears. Wales had found themselves in the same position only a few hours earlier at the Millennium Stadium, after conceding the opening try with just 47 seconds on the clock.

But, despite their best efforts, Wales could not turn the game around like the Colts did - and they slipped to an opening day defeat. Thomas said:

"I can't get to sleep after a game anyway and I was lying in bed just thinking the game over and over and over.
"I was watching the Super Bowl - and as things go through your mind, it just gets worse and worse. It can all escalate into a huge negative."

Coaches Gareth Jenkins and Nigel Davies gathered the players together this morning and stressed that a victory over Scotland on Saturday would shunt their RBS 6 Nations title ambitions right back on track.

Follow up:

Shane Williams, Mark Jones and Tom Shanklin could all return for the trip to Murrayfield after missing the Ireland game through injury.

Davies said:

"We have lost this battle - but we haven't lost the war. This is a very open 6 Nations.
"We created a lot of good chances against Ireland, and the tries will come.
"We scored 16 in the autumn, and they will come - particularly if we carry on playing the way we do. We have some lethal finishers coming back in for the game.
"Scotland will be tough. They will be fired-up at home, but we are prepared for that.
"We are fully aware of what they will offer, and it is about adding to our gameplan. We will be a lot more streetwise heading into the game."

After studying the video, Thomas was also able to stop beating himself up.

"I do feel a lot better than I was last night," he said.
"I think we can be quite positive in our performance to a certain degree.
"There were obviously things that didn't go our way - but as a whole, we can be quite happy."

Wales have delayed their team announcement from Tuesday lunchtime to Wednesday as they await news on Hal Luscombe's injury and updates on Williams, Jones and Shanklin.

Davies added: