Despite going into the break 3-3 and losing star winger George North to an ankle injury the Welsh stuck to their task and took full advantage of Nick De Luca and Rory Lamont’s time in the sin bin to break the game open.

And Gatland admitted afterwards that the maturity of his players belies their tender years.

"It's a good sign that we can lose some key players and just keep our head and not let it affect us," he said.

"That's pleasing that there's a lot of maturity; we know how young this team is but there's a lot of maturity being shown in the side.

"I thought Alex Cuthbert was very good today in attack and showed the faith that we'd given him by selecting him for the second week [in succession].

"Leigh Halfpenny has had to move around again but he's kicked his goals well, so yeah it's pleasing."

However, Gatland conceded that he wasn’t completely happy with the team’s performance and called on his young charges to improve even further before their visit to Twickenham on February 25.

Following England’s 19-15 win over Italy in Rome the match will end one side’s unbeaten start while Wales have a chance at the Triple Crown, but Gatland believes his side is capable of achieving further silverware.

The Wales coach added: “Again there's still things to work on but we're two from two and we've got a chance at a Triple Crown by going to England in a couple of weeks, and maybe a bit more.”