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Gatland: 'Probably the wrong player has gone on as a replacement'
By Martyn Thomas at Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Warren Gatland has claimed Wales sent on the wrong replacement following Mason Grady’s first-half injury as Fiji claimed an historic 24-19 victory in Cardiff.
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Grady, who played a key role in Blair Murray’s opening try, started on the right wing at the Principality Stadium but was forced off through injury in the 17th minute.
With only two backs named on the Wales bench, Sam Costelow came on and played as a winger until the 64th minute, when he switched to his normal fly-half position and scrum-half Ellis Bevan came on to play out wide.
Bevan made an instant impact as he scored the try that momentarily gave the hosts hope of salvaging victory from a messy, ill-disciplined performance.
And speaking after Wales’ 24-19 defeat, their 10th in a row, Gatland claimed that it should have been Bevan who replaced Grady not Costelow.
“Probably the wrong player has gone on as a replacement,” Gatland said when asked if the loss would discourage him from using a six-two split in future.
“We talked about Ellis Bevan going on there. That was something we had to deal with. It’s difficult.
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“We had a long debate about that and long discussion about the six-two split. The first time you do that, and you get caught in the one position you’re a bit vulnerable.”
Pressed to clarify whether Costelow or Bevan had been due to cover the wing, Gatland added: “Ellis was supposed to go on.
“(Was it a breakdown in communication?) I need to get to the bottom of that. We were talking and said we’re going to put Ellis on. And then Sam’s ran on the field.
“I think he might have assumed he was the person going on. We had already had those discussions with Ellis that if we do lose a winger, you’re going to need to cover us there.”
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farcical