And if you believe in omens then the next team they faced was Scotland and they beat them at Murrayfield, 19-15. Greig Laidlaw’s Scottish side will arrive in Cardiff this week looking to end a run of eight successive defeats in the RBS 6 Nations – their worst championship performance since the 1950s.
By contrast, Warren Gatland’s Wales team will be seeking a fourth 6 Nations win in a row in the Welsh capital, something they haven’t achieved in almost four years. Gatland has yet to lose to the Scots since taking over as Welsh coach in 2008 and with eight successive wins it is the best run against them of all-time.
In fact, the only players in the Welsh squad who have tasted defeat against the Scots are Gethin Jenkins – two defeats in 11 games – and Alun Wyn Jones – one in seven. Conversely, only Sean Lamont and Ross Ford in the Scottish squad have won against Wales.
They were both in the team that won in Edinburgh in 2007, but Lamont has one win in nine appearances and Ford one out of 10. None of the Scottish team have tasted success against Wales in Cardiff and last weekend’s 15-9 defeat against England at Murrayfield was their 10 successive loss on the opening day of the 6 Nations.
Their record on the second weekend isn’t much better. Only once in the last eight years have they managed a victory in the opening two rounds, against Italy three year ago, and their record in 16 second round matches to date is three wins, one draw and 12 defeats.
Even so, with two defeats at the end of the World Cup and a draw in Dublin, Wales are without a win in three matches. They have not had a sequence of four consecutive winless games since 2012/13.
Scotland’s most recent victory on the road in the 6 Nations came on a trip to Rome in 2014 and they haven’t won in Cardiff since 2002. In fact, in 34 visits to the Welsh capital since World War ll they have won only six times (1962, 82, 84, 90, 96, 2002).
Even though the Triple Crown and Grand Slam are now out of reach of Wales, there is still a huge goal for them in trying to overtake England and win a 27th title outright. There were some good signs on the field in Dublin, which were born out in the post-match statistics
Welsh players carried the ball 155 times – more than any other country in round one of the 6 Nations and Jamie Roberts made the most tackles with 20. Taulupe Faletau made the most tackles without missing one, with his impeccable tally of 19.
The Scots were Scotland were one of three sides to have a 100% success rate t the scrum in the opening round and must have been kicking themselves after the game against England because they made 51 more metres than their bitter rivals, carried the ball nine more times, beat three more defenders, made four more line breaks and made 10 more tackles yet still lost.
