Edwards won 53 consecutive caps between 1967 and 1978

Wales scrum-half legend Gareth Edwards believes Wales need to ride the storm of its eight games without a victory.

He insists Wales need to stick with coach Warren Gatland and learn from the mistakes of their Six Nations opening defeat to England on Friday.

"Gatland is under pressure - every coach is. They live or die by their results," said Edwards.

"But I don't see any benefit whatsoever in changing Welsh coaches at this stage."

Against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, 12 February, Gatland is set to draw level on matches with his New Zealand predecessor Graham Henry, who was in charge for 34 Wales games.

And Gatland needs a victory in that match with Wales having lost the last seven of their eight games.

"I hate to mention this - I have been a big fan of Warren and I can emphasise - but things haven't quite gone right," said former scrum-half Edwards, capped 53 times for Wales and 10 times for the British and Irish Lions.

"There has been a notable trend over the past decade or so that Wales change coaches just prior to a World Cup - I hope this isn't the case this time.

"We should see it all the way through - Warren has got a contract [until the 2015 Rugby World Cup] - let's hope he sees it out."

Speaking about the 26-19 defeat to England, Edwards said: "Wales contributed to their own downfall. They needed to take the initiative very early on.

If we look at our last eight games, there were moments against South Africa and Australia where Wales looked as if they were quite capable of winning the games Gareth Edwards

"There was very little between the teams at the end but England grasped their opportunity and scored the points.

"If we look at our last eight games, there were moments against South Africa and Australia where Wales looked as if they were quite capable of winning the games.

"But after being in possession for long periods of time, and although Wales are not playing poorly, they certainly are not on top of their game.

"Wales are creating lots of openings but are quite incapable of turning them into points - they are not making their openings count," said Edwards.

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