Wales head coach Wayne Pivac feels overwhelming relief at his side being crowned Six Nations champions nearly a week after their final game in which they lost to France on the final play.
The Welsh have claimed their second Six Nations title in three years, after second-placed France lost 27-23 at home to Scotland in the final match of the tournament.
The former Takapuna policeman, who guided Auckland to back-to-back provincial titles, says it was a "sickening feeling" for the players, after missing out on a Grand Slam and that he himself did not want to step out of the house until Thursday.
"It was an emotional rollercoaster, the last seven days, because we put in by far our best performance against the French," Pivac says. "To lose it in the last play of the game was devastating.
"Then we didn't know if it was good enough to win the championship, waiting seven days for that match and then go through that match - which, looking back, was a really exciting match, with so many moments that kept us on our toes.
"We talk about chaos, and making significant change and having to adapt [amid the pandemic]. It was really evident that we had to do something different during this campaign, which was watching ourselves win a championship from our individual lounges."
Pivac, who had been heavily criticised in 2020, after Wales finished fifth, has thanked the Welsh rugby board for sticking by him, but says his side are not yet the finished product.
"We will keep on improving and fine tuning," he says. "We'll draw a line in the sand now and see how we are.
"We're measuring up quite nicely. We can't get ahead of ourselves.
"As you've seen in this Six Nations, Scotland have improved, Ireland have improved and England beat the French, so there are no easy games, and the Rugby World Cup is going to be the ultimate for us."
Reuters
