The Albany Gazette - Wales coach Tandy will avoid 'knee-jerk' reaction to crushing England loss

Saturday's reverse was Wales' 12th successive Championship loss, part of a broader, yet still woeful, run of 22 defeats in 24 Tests against all opponents.

Wales conceded seven tries at Twickenham in a dire display that also featured four yellow cards.

Defeat was assured by half-time, with Wales 29-0 behind at the break after England wing Henry Arundell scored a hat-trick of tries inside the opening 35 minutes.

Wales next face the daunting task of trying to derail reigning champions France, fresh from an impressive 36-14 win at home to Ireland, in Cardiff on Sunday, February 15.

Tandy, however, ruled out a drastic overhaul of his side, with Louis Rees-Zammit set to continue at full-back.

"There's going to be nothing knee-jerk around it and ultimately I knew this when we took the job," said Tandy, who became Wales head coach in September.

"We're playing one of the best teams in the world and it's not going to click overnight.

"This is part of experiencing these moments and using them as learning experiences, making sure we adapt for the coming games...We are really disappointed with ourselves. Even though we're 11th in the world, we expect more of ourselves."

The front row duo of Nick Smith and Wales captain Dewi Lake received yellow cards within a minute of each other in the first half, with Arundell scoring two of his three tries while Wales were down to 13 men.

Cardiff centre Ben Thomas and Scarlets flanker Taine Plumtree were also sin-binned in the second half as Wales again found themselves two men down.

Wales have conceded 65 penalties in five matches under Tandy, with 10 yellow cards and one red.

"Playing against England with 15 men is hard enough, let alone playing the game with 13 men for 20 minutes," said Tandy. "We're not a good enough team to have these big lapses."

In Rees-Zammit's first Six Nations appearance since returning from an unsuccessful attempt to forge a career in NFL he was again deployed at full-back rather than on the wing.

He coped well when targeted by kicks from England fly-half George Ford and showed glimpses of his attacking ability in the second half.

"Louis did really well in his first start at 15 in a while for us," said Tandy. "In Test match rugby there's not much space anywhere but he adapted well to full-back with the aerial battles.

"He's a big man. He did light the game up in moments. It's about looking how we can get those moments a little more."

(W.Williams--TAG)