19 - 24

Gatland's message to Wales fans who claim Scotland is must-win for under-pressure Pivac

30 Oct 2020

(Photo by John Berry/Getty Images)

Warren Gatland has called on Wales supporters to give under-pressure boss Wayne Pivac a break, suggesting that Saturday’s Six Nations finale with Scotland at Llanelli isn’t a must-win encounter for the struggling home side. Having succeeded Gatland at the helm following Wales’ fourth-place finish at the World Cup in Japan, Pivac has suffered four straight defeats following a maiden 42-0 win over Italy last February.

Ireland, France (twice) and England have all beaten the Welsh, leaving them on a four-match losing streak for the first time since 2016. Last weekend’s 38-21 friendly loss to France in Paris – their heaviest to the French in the past nine years – was also the most points Wales have conceded against European opposition since they shipped 62 points versus England in 2017.

However, rather than stick the boot in on his successor as Wales boss, Gatland said his fellow New Zealand should be afforded a longer honeymoon period to implement his ideas, especially as the pressure for results ahead of World Cup 2023 pool draw in December was taken away by a recent World Rugby ruling.

Warren Gatland guests on the RugbyPass interview show

Video Player is loading.

Current Time 0:00

Duration 0:00

Loaded: 0%

Stream Type LIVE

Remaining Time 0:00

Warren Gatland guests on the RugbyPass interview show

With the international game severely affected by the pandemic, World Rugby decided that instead of using next December’s rankings to determine the seedings for the RWC draw, they instead opted to use the rankings as they were last January.

Wales had slipped down the rankings to sixth during Pivac’s tenure, but they will now be a top-four side for the pool draw as they were in the top band of teams as the start of the year. It means they will now avoid fellow band one team South Africa, New Zealand and England in the draw, a development that Gatland believes should have Wales fans cutting Pivac some slack.

UNBELIEVABLE! https://t.co/6hLP39WioT
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 2, 2020

“The thing is you become under so much scrutiny, not so much performance but under so much scrutiny for results and you don’t get a lot of time and you get limited preparation time,” he said, outlining the difference between Test and club coaching that Pivac is now experiencing after making the jump from Scarlets to Wales.

“When you’re with a club side you get a chance to fix that as you are trying to work on things and it doesn’t count your whole season out, but international rugby there is a hell of a lot more pressure.

“It’s a big game for Wales this weekend but the fact that the World Cup draw put them in a position where they ended up in the top-seeded group, that takes a huge amount of pressure off them in terms of their preparation over the next couple of years.

“They need to forget about the external pressure and make sure they are totally focused on what they want to achieve firstly in the short-term and then long term. You can see that they are already talking about this being a must-win game. Is it really a must-win game?

“They are only going to finish fourth or fifth, but does it really matter? They can use this autumn period for building to the (next) Six Nations, developing players over the next two years, and the World Cup is another important factor. So forget about all the stuff that people are saying about them and pressure coming from the outside.

“You have got a new coaching team coming to grips with what they are trying to achieve and that’s challenging. The players and the coaches have realised that the step up from club rugby, regional rugby to international rugby is massive in a lot of aspects of the game.

“For example, last weekend France kicked the ball 36 times and Wales kicked it 30 times. That’s an average number for international games. Not just for Wales and France but all teams, the All Blacks as well.

“When you play domestic competition that number is a hell of a lot lower and there is a bit more time and space. They are just trying to get the balance, playing a new way, and that’s absolutely fantastic. I hope they are able to achieve that and just make sure that they are pragmatic about the way that they approach things.”

The skipper of the famed 1974 British and Irish Lions has written a no-holds barred introduction to a compelling new book that counts the costs of professionalism in rugby ??https://t.co/6DH0LkRIUJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 6, 2020

KOKO Show | July 22nd | Full Throttle with Brisbane Test Review and Melbourne Preview

New Zealand v South Africa | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

USA vs England | Men's International | Full Match Replay

France v Argentina | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

Lions Share | Episode 4

Zimbabwe vs Namibia | Rugby Africa Cup Final | Full Match Replay

USA vs Fiji | Women's International | Full Match Replay

Tattoos & Rugby: Why are tattoos so popular with sportspeople? | Amber Schonert | Rugby Rising Locker Room Season 2

Comments

0 Comments

Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Latest Features

LONG READ

Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

Much has been made of France's second-string touring squad, but what do the numbers really say about player load across the game?

LONG READ

Nobody runs the show like Beauden - Why the All Blacks need Barrett now, and at Rugby World Cup 2027

New Zealand are a better team, and better placed to triumph in 2027, with 34-year-old Barrett wearing the number 10 jersey.

LONG READ

'The Wallabies need to convert much better - or Melbourne could be much worse'

The Wallabies showed encouraging flashes in the second half of their first Test loss to the Lions, but they can't afford to squander so many opportunities.

Comments on RugbyPass

IkeaBoy 12 minutes ago

Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

Exactly. They will simply ‘scout’ prospects at a much younger age before they have even declared for a country at age grade level.

While I’m sure there will be some 14 or 15 year olds with incredible skills, most will stand out at that age grade because they are huge so will just keep feeding the French leagues with massive physical beasts.

12 Go to comments

IkeaBoy 15 minutes ago

Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

I watched the recent Top 14 final in my local bar and couldn’t help noticing it was an illegal stream.

The TV deals are huge in France and I respect that their product is focused on their home audience but the TV money won’t be enough at some point. As you say, either the owners pump even more into the clubs or more of them take on investment partners but lose control.

12 Go to comments

IkeaBoy 20 minutes ago

Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

Very, very thoughtful piece!

It’s far too much rugby for players as it stands and the new competitions - club world cup and Nations cup - are proposed on the basis it’s the best players competing who will usually be established test players.

An established NH test player is in pre-season from August (at the latest) then going thorough until the following July. They likely will have carried niggles and some injuries into their pre-season. They would then have between 22-30 domestic games if their teams went far and contested finals in say the URC and CC. Although many would have stand down periods, they would still train and be squad ready for all of those games.

Their test commitments across that same time would be 3/4 games (Nov series) then 5 games (6 Nations) with a rest for the July development tours. That rest would only now be once every 4 years with the Lions, Nations Cup and RWC warm-ups occupying the July window.

A squad player at club level would potentially have a full run of games in any given season but run a greater risk of injury the more often they play. They would likely know that form alone wouldn’t get them to the next level and into a national squad. It would be their bodies and their ability to recover quickly and deal with elite level competition. They wouldn’t have the baseline of having played an 11 month season so how could they upsurge a 40 cap player?

I think there will be a huge divide before long between solid club players, who are basically salary men, and the ringfenced test animals who will likely dwindle in numbers as their playing demands increase.

12 Go to comments

AT 23 minutes ago

Mick Cleary: 'The soul was not lit up by underwhelming Lions first Test'

Underwhelming is a good description of the First Test. Some good individual performances but cohesion only in patches. Some players not fully in form (eg Lowe, Keenan) others struggling to adjust to the game plan. Attack looked good when Russell had the ball in his hands and was making decisions. I would like us all to be inspired by the Lions’ rugby not underwhelmed - with a week’s more work, more opponent pressure maybe a small number of personel changes we may get that…… I say hopefully!

9 Go to comments

J Marc 24 minutes ago

'A series against the French would be one for the ages': Ex-Lions call for change

In a year with 15 month…

2 Go to comments

NB 44 minutes ago

Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

Yes the issues will come to a head SK. A pro player can figure on a 5-6 year career - some more others less. They need to be able to exit that career with a financial boost and no lasting health problems. As it stands the risks prob outrun the rewards.