It may have been one of the most astonishing matches in the history of the Six Nations, but Wales’ tournament opener was not the start they were looking for.

It was a 27-26 thriller at home to Scotland, but it was a defeat for Warren Gatland’s side which means any dream of a Grand Slam or Triple Crown this season has already gone.

But the championship can still be won, especially as Wales picked up two losing bonus points.

For Wales wing Rio Dyer, though, the demand is for Wales to come out of their shell much earlier against England this weekend, when Wales head to Twickenham for round two.

The Dragons wing was one of Wales’ four tryscorers at the Principality Stadium – his fifth Test try in 15 internationals.

“It was a bit frustrating in the first half because I wasn’t really touching the ball. We were kicking it a bit too much,” said Dyer.

“It showed in the second half that when we do start chucking it about and playing, that we can perform.

“We were in our shell in the first half. We were hitting up and were put on the back foot.

“Warren Gatland was emphasising the fact we needed to play some rugby.

“We were under the pump and had nothing to lose, so we went out to try and show what we could do.”

Having been 20 points adrift at the break, Wales then conceded a second try to Duhan van der Merwe and were 27-0 down after 43 minutes.

New skipper Dafydd Jenkins and his young Welsh side were in unchartered territory, yet managed to roll up their sleeves and get to within a couple of points of an astonishing victory.

“Warren was soft spoken at half-time, he wasn’t shouting to try to get his point across. It was an onus on ourselves, more than Gats having to put his foot down,” added Dyer.

“Dafydd Jenkins brought the boys together and just said we can’t be putting out performances like that one in the first half. We stuck together and it was great to see the boys coming back.

“We need to take confidence from that second half and hopefully we can replicate it and put it into a first half next week. We need to keep that level of performance going.

“We’re a young squad and we’ve only been together for two weeks. We are getting used to each other, but we showed what we can do in the second half.

“Now we’ve got to stick to it. We can be much better, and you saw in the second half how we can play.”

England managed an unconvincing 27-24 victory over Italy in Rome, while Ireland delivered the performance of the weekend as they sent out a strong message with a thumping record 38-17 win over France in Marseille.

Wales U20s enjoyed a winning start to their campaign and skipper Harri Ackerman can’t wait to get back to work this week to build on their first opening round victory in the age group tournament since 2018.

After their six try, 37-29 win over Scotland in Colwyn Bay, Ackerman’s side head to Bath’s Recreation Ground to face England in their next assignment.

You had to go back six years to the 36-3 win over the Scots in north Wales for the last win for the Welsh youngsters in their opening game in the championship.

That team was led by Tommy Reffell, who was in the senior side a day later in the 27-26 defeat in Cardiff.

England were 36-11 winners over Italy in their opening game and have won the last three games against Wales.

Jac Morgan was captain the last time Wales beat the auld enemy, 23-22 at Kingsholm in 2020.

“It’s a massive game next week. Wales v England is a game you dream about as a kid and we need to keep a calm head,” said Ackerman.

“It was a massive win for us against Scotland and great to get the campaign off to a winning start.

“It feels really good, and it was nice to get back into the changing rooms and celebrate a win.”