Rhys Priestland cut an unusually forlorn figure as his Wales team-mates drenched themselves in champagne and celebrated their Triple Crown win at Twickenham a fortnight ago.
The fly-half had just secured the first piece of silverware of his fledgling international career, but he seemed muted as he reflected on the only poor performance of his 13 Test appearances to date.
Priestland had endured a torrid afternoon, yellow-carded and struggling to play with his usual cool authority, but Wales still managed to snatch a 19-12 win over England.
The 25-year-old was on the pitch at the final whistle, with head coach Warren Gatland deciding to back his fly-half and keep him on for the remainder of the match after he had returned from his sin-binning.
Gatland’s faith was evident again this week as he selected Priestland for tomorrow’s match against Italy, and the Scarlets player is determined to put his Twickenham ordeal behind him with a strong showing at the Millennium Stadium.
“I was pretty disappointed to be honest. I’m not going to dwell on it,” says Priestland.
“Things didn’t go my way but there’s nothing I can do about it now. I’m just lucky to be having another chance tomorrow and hopefully make a better job of it.
“Every time I’m selected, I’m over the moon. I’m just really pleased that the coaches have shown faith in me again.
“Straight after the game the coaches could see I was a little bit disappointed and they came up to speak to me. They told me ‘don’t worry about it — as long as you learn from it’.
“I’ve looked back at the game and there were a few things I wish I had done differently and I wish a few things had gone a different way.
“I’ll look back on it and hopefully I’ve learnt a lot and hopefully it will make me a better player.”
Bristling with a commitment to redeem himself, Priestland speaks with striking candour as he discusses the game at Twickenham and tomorrow’s match.
He knows where he must improve and, encouragingly for the Grand Slam-chasing Wales side, Priestland reckons the team as a whole can move up a gear against Italy.
“I don’t think that game against England was our best performance, for various reasons,” he adds.
“People always speak about teams who don’t play well and win and that it’s usually the sign of a good team. I’m sure we’ll play better than that and lose in the future.
“And we came away with the Triple Crown, the first one I’ve been involved in, so I’m over the moon.
“But there are aspects for me to work on and I have been working hard on them over the last two weeks.
“We know if we are not at our best, Italy will cause us problems.
“The more clinical we can be, the best we can perform to our game-plan, the easier it will make it for us come the end of the game.”
Wales will be expected to brush Italy aside tomorrow, making light work of the Azzurri to set up a potential Grand Slam-clincher against France the following week.
But Priestland knows better than to dismiss his next opponents, and he insists his team-mates will not be allowing themselves to contemplate France’s visit to the Millennium Stadium until they have dealt with tomorrow’s Italian job.
“One thing we have done well so far is to treat each game individually and give everyone the respect they deserve. And it won’t be any different this week,” he says.
“Every time a game comes around, there’s a real buzz about the place and everyone just can’t wait to do their best for their country.
“It’ll be my first time to play against Italy. They have got some quality players throughout the team and they can make life very difficult for you.
“They’ve got big, physical players. And hopefully we can be at our best and really be clinical.
“They are a big threat, so we’ve got to be at the top of our game and not give them a sniff.”
Roksport Rugby 