CARMARTHEN star Rhys Priestland has been hailed by regional team-mate Jonathan Davies for helping guide Wales to Six Nations glory in Ireland.

Davies was the two-try hero for Warren Gatland's men as Wales started the tournament with a thrilling victory at the Aviva Stadium.

But the powerful centre, who hails from Bancyfelin, insisted Scarlets fly-half Priestland was equally deserving of the plaudits.

Davies's first try was thanks to a sumptuous one-handed pass from Priestland.

"I thought Priestland's was a superb offload," he said.

"For me, it was just about running the right lines, there were some great offloads and I just had to finish them off. Happy days."

Davies enjoyed his best afternoon in a Wales jersey, effortlessly carrying his impressive form from the Heineken Cup on to the international stage.

And he admitted the three-quarters have worked hard on making the most of the opportunities they create in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of international rugby.

"In training we make sure we finish things off because Rob Howley (attack coach) goes on about it. You don't get many chances in Test match rugby," he added.

"We had three good opportunities and scored three tries, which is very encouraging, but we have to make sure we keep working on it for the rest of the tournament.

"We worked on a lot of things before the World Cup and again when we went back to Poland last week."

Meanwhile, Priestland praised Leigh Halfpenny's nerve to land the match-winning penalty as Wales made the perfect start to their Six Nations quest.

Priestland handed over the kicking duties to the Blues full-back after missing all three of his kicks at goal — striking the upright with a conversion and a short-range penalty, then pushing a second-half penalty wide.

"It made sense to give the kicking to Leigh because he's been kicking well for the Blues," said the fly-half, who otherwise made an impressive return to the Test arena.

"To step up and have the confidence to nail it like he did, you've got to take your hat off to him.

"I was kicking well in the warm-up and struck the first one well.

"I'm just disappointed with myself that I rushed the second one and did not go through what I wanted to do with the third. I was disappointed with the way things went for me personally, but I was chuffed for Leigh."