Rugby-Tandy admits Wales need vast improvement despite Japan win

Wales coach Steve Tandy has admitted there is ​no hiding from his team’s below-par performance in ​their 28-21 home Nations Championship ‌victory over ​Japan on Saturday where they looked flat at times and kept their opponents in the contest. Wales ran in four tries to collect a ‌bonus point and although it was a third win in five games, Tandy felt his side needed to be more ruthless.

"It's a bonus-point win. It's good to start," Tandy said. "I can't run away from the performance. ‌There are elements we need to improve. I thought we'd be better. We weren't ruthless enough." Tandy ‌suggested rust may have been to blame as Wales played their first test since July.

"Getting a hit out for the first time since the summer, it does get clunky," he said. "It helps to review after a bonus point win. We'll enjoy ⁠it but ​the beauty of this ⁠group is the hunger to get better quicker. We'll definitely have to do that." Next up for Wales are New Zealand next ⁠weekend and Australia. Tandy knows his side cannot afford to offer up cheap opportunities in those games.

"We'd go seven ​points up and there'd be a sloppy moment," he said. "There was some excitement in what ⁠we tried to do. Japan were effective close to the line. We managed the game well outside of that. Defensively, we improved." Japan ⁠coach ​Eddie Jones felt it was a missed opportunity for his side, who had 62% of the possession but struggled with entries into the Wales 22.

"That could have been a historic win for ⁠us," Jones said. "But you've got to be good enough to take advantage of those mistakes. We weren't ⁠quite good enough. It ⁠was a missed opportunity. "I'm proud of my team. We had a young team, but they stuck at it. We had a few times where we didn't ‌take chances and ‌Wales did."

Japan face England on November 14.