It was the most points Wales has recorded against the invitation team, it was the biggest crowd (62,138) in the 10-match series dating back to 1915 and the six tries matched the previous best in the 42-0 win at Bristol’s Ashton Gate in 2004.
“The game itself was fantastic from our point of view. We had a week together where we were able to put in some building blocks for how we want to play in the Six Nations. A lot of work was done by the boys and there was a lot of learning out there,” said Pivac.
“It was an opportunity for all of us to meet. Before this I’d only ever said ‘good day’ to Justin (Tipuric) and shaken his hand after a club game. To spend the week together, not only on the training field, but in and around the environment, has been fantastic.
“We’ve learned a lot from it and we’ll now review the game to see how the boys fared. It’ll be information ready for selection for the Six Nations squad.”
The Barbarians ensured that Warren Gatland got a great send-off with a highly competitive performance and until Leigh Halfpenny knocked over a final penalty to take Wales two scores clear the game was still very much in the melting pot. The Baa-Baas scored five tries themselves in what was an 11 try thriller for the fans.
“I was very pleased to score 43 points and I thought 20 minutes after half-time it was looking pretty good. We were happy where things were at,” added Pivac.
“We made some changes, there were a lot of re-set scrums and the game stopped and started a bit. We were disappointed to concede some tries, but I’m happy to have got the win in the end – it’s something to get our teeth into it.”
