Wales may have finally broken their two-year drought for a home victory, but their head coach left the Principality Stadium with plenty to ponder late on Saturday night.
His team’s very sketchy 24–23 last-ditch escape against Japan delivered his first win in charge, yet the overwhelming theme of his post-match reflections was frustration - not from anger, he insisted, but from a conviction that Wales are capable of far more than they showed.
Asked whether his nerves had settled after Jarrod Evans’ last-kick penalty secured the result, Tandy paused before admitting, “I don’t know if it’s nerves or anger.
“But what a kick from Jarrod.”
What followed, though, was not a rant but a measured appraisal of a low quality performance that served mainly to remind Tandy of the gigantic size of the task he faces.
Every small compliment arrived paired with a caveat.
“We’ve got to be smarter,” he said bluntly.
“If I’m being brutally honest, I spoke all week about the performance being better than last week… ultimately we spoke about discipline and we can’t be giving away a red card and some cheap penalties from kick-offs.”
Discipline, for Tandy, framed almost every concern. Wales played a full 20 minutes with 14 men after Josh Adams’ bunker-reviewed clear-out was upgraded to red.
It was a turning point that left the coach walking a fine line: defending his player while admitting it was a needless handicap.
“I’ve been told to be careful, but I think it’s a harsh red,” he admitted.
“But if you put yourself in a position like that, you’re in the hands of the gods. We have to be better and not bring TMOs into play.”
The biggest frustration, however, was the sense that Wales continually squandered opportunities to seize control.
Japan were reduced to 13 men, yet Wales failed utterly exploit the numerical advantage and looked clueless when the six Japanese forwards comfortably kept hold of the ball.
“We could have capitalised on their yellows,” Tandy said.
“When you’re a growing team, you want to play more, but you have to sometimes tighten up and be more direct when they have 13 men.
“There’s lots of learnings. Discipline is something we can control ourselves much better.
“But it’s a first win in two years (in Cardiff). It’s a burden off our backs.
“I’ve got to be honest as well. I said all week it’s about performances… We could sit here and be super happy because we haven’t won at home for two years.
“But we’ll come back on Monday as we’ll analyse as we need to get better in those aspects. We’ll be tough on ourselves.
“Anger is probably the wrong word. It’s frustration as I know what this group can be… I was expecting more in our performance… We need to add a ruthless nature.”
Japan head coach Eddie Jones launched a fierce critique of the officiating, arguing that the flurry of cards brandished undermined the contest.
The Brave Blossoms finished the match having absorbed three yellow cards.
Epineri Uluiviti was first to go, dispatched to the sin bin for hitting Alex Mann off the ball, before Faulua Makisi followed for a mistimed tackle on Dan Edwards.
Debutant Harry Hockings later joined them for a dangerous challenge, while Wales wing Adams saw his own yellow escalated to a red following a bunker review.
Jones made it clear he felt the match had been distorted by the volume of punishments.
“The only thing that anybody ever remembers is the scoreboard,” he said.
“That tells the story, congratulations to Wales and Steve Tandy – that is a good win for his side and I am sure he will want to get better.”
But he quickly turned his attention to decisions that left his side defending with depleted numbers.
“It is almost farcical now, the sin-bin situation. We are absolutely ruining the game of rugby,” Jones said, arguing that none of the incidents warranted such severe sanctions.
“I didn’t see any of those actions as being reckless. Penalties? Fair enough, let’s have penalties, of course we’ve got to have penalties.
“But at one stage, we were down to 13 men, they got a red card, and they were down to 14 men.
"The game of rugby is about 15 players on the field, and I think World Rugby should be looking at this very closely,” he said.
He even went as far as suggesting supporters had grounds for complaint.
“And if I were a fan, I’d be asking the Welsh Rugby Union for my money back, but they can’t afford it, so they’re not going to give it back.”
