Wales Coach Gatland saw his team beat Scotland 30-15 in his first home game at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium thanks to tries from Shane Williams and James Hook.
The victory came on the back of his historic triumph over England at Twickenham seven days earlier and has put Wales within one game of the Triple Crown, against Ireland in Dublin on March 8th.
Gatland said: “First of all this win (against Scotland) means we will not get the wooden spoon this year, but it has set us up for a shot at the Triple Crown and that’s great news. There will be a lot at stake in the game in Dublin.”
Williams looked to have set Wales on their way with his first try on 13 minutes but the boot of wing Chris Paterson kept Scotland in the game and it was not until Hook and Williams, again, went over in the second half that Wales pulled away.
Gatland said: “We thoroughly deserved to win this game. There was only one side out there trying to play rugby and that was the players in red jerseys. Scotland didn’t really threaten us once. They made it quite easy for us with their attacks from the rucks, which we had worked hard on this week.
“We have got some momentum now. We’ve still got a couple of levels to go before we can compete with the best in the world – but when we get there we will be very good.
“The skill level in this team is brilliant, the attitude is fantastic and no other team in the Six Nations will work harder than us. That’s why I’m confident we will get there.
“I was a bit worried at 17-15 because it would only take one penalty or interception to turn the game. But I was proud of the way the boys stuck at it. We took our chances late on and got a reasonably comfortable win.”
Scotland Coach Frank Hadden was unhappy over Williams’s second try minute that gave Wales a decisive 27-15 lead in the 67th minute.
Italian fourth official Carlo Damasco awarded the try but television replays showed the wing’s foot touched the line as he dived in, under the challenge of Ospreys teammate Nikki Walker.
Hadden said: “However I’m bitterly disappointed that the TMO (Television Match Official) has clearly got a decision wrong. That try left us with a mountain to climb.”
But Wales Coach Gatland said, “We’ve seen these calls go either way in the past so we won’t be complaining about getting this call.”
The defeat was a second in six days for Scotland after their 27-6 loss to France and has left Hadden facing an uphill battle to avoid finishing last in the RBS Six Nations Championship for the second successive season.
He said: “It was another tough day at the office for us. We just did enough to hang on by doing what needed to be done to scrap away and try to nick something away from home.
“But we didn’t hang onto the ball enough, individually or collectively, to threaten. We have a very young squad and they will learn from this. Wales can be reasonably happy with their performance, but it was not a vintage game.”
