Gatland praises Hartley after England down Wales

Warren Gatland paid tribute to Dylan Hartley after the England hooker ignored the Wales coach's verbal attack to give a commanding display in his side's 26-19 win in Cardiff.

Gatland had branded Hartley a "choker" in the build-up to Friday's Six Nations opener, questioning his ability to perform under pressure and accusing him of being instrumental in the suspension of Wales scrum-half Richie Rees.

But revenge was sweet for Hartley at the Millennium Stadium as the New Zealand-born forward barely put a foot wrong, throwing accurately into the line-out and helping England win one scrum against the head.

Asked if he regretted his broadside against Hartley, Gatland sought to draw a line under the affair.

"I tried to get a bit of publicity for a book I'm writing," he quipped. "I made a couple of comments because I was frustrated at losing a player from the squad over an incident.

"Look, he's a quality player. I've already said that on two or three occasions in interviews. But unfortunately those comments don't get reported do they? Their lineout functioned well, their scrum went well.

"It was a good performance."

Gatland now has to lift his side in time for a difficult trip to Murrayfield next week, unhappy in the knowledge that Wales have now gone eight consecutive matches without registering a win.

Against England, a failure to make the most of promising situations let Wales down, according to Gatland, citing the inability of the home team to rack up the points when their opponents were down to 14 men.

England on the other hand made the most of their opportunity when Wales prop Craig Mitchell was carded early in the second half.

"It was a little bit disappointing," said Gatland.

"For their yellow card, we've hung on for nine minutes and I think they ended up scoring a try in the last minute.

"It was quite telling that they took the opportunity during the yellow card and we didn't take ours."

Gatland however was satisfied with his player's workrate.

"Someone had to lose and unfortunately that was us, but I can't fault the effort of the players - they tried really hard," he said. "I don't think there was a huge amount between the sides."