Steve Tandy has admitted there is no hiding from his team's below-par performance â in their 28-21 home Nations Championship victory over Japan on Saturday where they looked flat at times and kept their â opponents in the â contest.
Wales recorded a bonus-point win as Josh Adams twice, Archie Griffin and Louis Rees-Zammit crossed, but they had to produce a desperate rearguard in the final moments to prevent Japan from an equalising score and a famous draw.
“It's a bonus-point win. It's good to start,†Tandy said. “I can't run away from the â performance. There are elements we need to improve. I thought we'd be better. We ​weren't ruthless enough.â€
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.â€
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.â€
Wales have now won two of their four Nations Championship games, but stay fifth in the northern hemisphere standings.
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France and South Africa win but at a cost for Les Bleus
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France rue Ntamack injury
France stormed back to the top of the Northern Hemisphere Nations Championship table with a dominant but flawed 54-17 victory over Fiji on Saturday.
Victory came at a cost, with the fly-half Romain Ntamack, alongside captain Antoine Dupont at half-back for the first time since March 2025, seemingly dislocating his shoulder in the buildup to France's third try.
With Mathieu Jalibert already out injured, Les Bleus will face world champions South Africa next week without either of their best No 10s.
They will also need to put in a vastly improved showing to stand any chance of avoiding a 10th defeat in their last 11 clashes with the Springboks.
Props Jean-Baptiste Gros and Sipili Falatea, wing Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, centre Kalvin Gourgues, full-back Theo Attissogbe, replacement forward Charles Ollivon and Dupont crossed the whitewash, with a penalty try making it eight scores for the hosts.
They are two points ahead of Ireland in the standings ahead of England's clash with Australia on Sunday.
Fiji, who started the match with 10 France-based players, including their entire backline, were typically physical but slumped to a fourth straight defeat in the inaugural Nations Championship.
Their much-vaunted backs struggled to fire, although centre Vinaya Habosi beat four defenders to score and Selestino Ravutaumada added a second consolation try. The Top 14's most prolific finisher, Jiuta Wainiqolo, who was playing in his adopted home, was unable to make an impact, though.
Earlier South Africa strolled past an injury-hit â Italy with a 66-7 win in Saturday's Nations Championship meeting in â Turin, where the â fly-half ​Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored the first of nine Springbok tries and added â another 21 points from a perfect kicking display.
South Africa ran in six â tries in an utterly dominant opening half. ​Hooker Malcolm Marx ‌went over ‌twice, adding to scores by Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morne van ‌den Berg and the captain Siya Kolisi and Damian Willemse, with Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicking all six conversions having opened the scoring with a penalty.
Wilco Louw added another try after ‌the break before Italy finally got off the mark with Federico Ruzza's ​try converted by Tommaso Allan. Springbok wing Ethan Hooker ran in the final score on the stroke of full-time. Agencies
Japan's coach, Eddie Jones, felt it was a missed opportunity for his â 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.â€
Japan face England on 14 November.
