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Jonathan Davies' verdict on Warren Gatland's six wins from 22 run

Wales boss Warren Gatland looks on prior to the Autumn Nations Series loss to Fiji (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Legendary Wales out-half Jonathan Davies has given his verdict on Warren Gatland’s rotten run in his second stint as national team head coach. The Kiwi enjoyed enormous success during his initial period in charge, winning four Six Nations titles (three were Grand Slams) and guiding them to Rugby World Cup semi-finals in 2011 and 2019.

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However, Gatland’s second coming as Wales boss has been terrible as just six wins in 22 matches have been recorded and they are currently on a record-equalling run of 10 straight losses with Australia preparing to visit Cardiff next Sunday.

Wales were humbled 19-24 last Sunday at Principality Stadium, leaving them ranked 11th in the world and igniting calls for Gatland to be sacked. Mike Phillips and Jamie Roberts are just two former Gatland players critical of the current lack of success, and Davies has now joined the debate.

Writing in his latest walesonline.co.uk column, the retired dual code star said criticism of Gatland was valid. “You have got to take the rough with the smooth. He has taken all the glory of Grand Slams and Six Nations titles, but when you are on a run like this, the buck stops with the coach. He understands that.

“He seems to have the backing of everybody. He made that clear after the Italy game in this year’s Six Nations. He was clever enough to offer his resignation after the game and they said no.

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“But the pressure is building and it all depends on these next two games. Then you probably have a decision to make for the Six Nations, either before it or after it. I don’t think you can sack him now, but it’s not looking good with the way they are.

“You have got the best team in the world [South Africa] coming over and a rejuvenated Australian side. It’s down to the Welsh Rugby Union, really. They are the ones that brought him back and gave him a big contract.”

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Davies went on to analyse the Wales performance versus Fiji before returning to the topic of whether Gatland is the best coach to take the team forward. “Whatever happens in the rest of the autumn, Gatland will surely be thinking about if he can take Wales forward anymore?

“He talks a good game, speaking about the positives afterwards. But it’s hard to take the positives when you have just lost control of the match against Fiji. It’s a pressure pot and the pressure is certainly building.

“It’s all down to getting that elusive result. That is only going to get more elusive, purely because of the teams you are playing against. Joe Schmidt looks like he knows what he is doing. He has won five out of 10 with the Wallabies. For context, Gatland has won six out of 22… Frankly, they are in a very, very tough place.”

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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