Most observers felt that a draw was a fair result, but Gibbs insists he took no comfort from Wales hanging on for a point.

He said: "A draw is better than a defeat, I suppose, but it tastes the same to me.

"Sport is about winning and at the end of the day we threw away a game that was ours for the taking.

"I think that championship matches which are level after 80 minutes should go into extra time - as an American sportsman once said, a draw is as exciting as kissing your sister."

Gibbs revealed that an injury picked up in his side's loss to England hindered his preparation for the clash with Scotland.

"I was pleased to get through the 80 minutes because I had not been able to take contact in training all week," he added.

"The ribs that I had damaged against England were too sore to allow me to train properly. We did not say anything because we did not want to put Scotland on alert.

"As it turned out, I did not have too much contact during the match. Part of our plan was to make sure that the ball went through my hands and it worked, with defenders lined up for an expected charge by me."

Ireland in Cardiff is next on the agenda for Wales, and Gibbs admits that his side can only look on in envy at the way Warren Gatland's side have been playing of late, with a 22-15 win over France on Saturday coming hot on the heels of a victory in Italy.

"We can take more satisfaction out of Murrayfield than we could out of our opening day defeat against England, but we still have a long way to go," said the Swansea powerhouse.