Irish TV broadcasters claim Wales are so bad they're damaging the Six Nations
The Wales rugby team and Welsh rugby in general has been described as “shambolic” and a “basket case” by Irish pundits who believe Warren Gatland’s side's poor form is actually damaging the Six Nations tournament as a whole.
Appearing on Virgin Media Sport, former Irish and Leinster player Shane Horgan did not hold back when asked for his assessment of where Wales are currently heading under Gatland.
Before the side’s 43-0 drubbing to France in Paris, Horgan said that Wales just don’t have the players in 2025 compared to the vintage available to Gatland during his previous tenure between 2007 and 2019, and suggested that the Wales head coach is powerless with the selection available to him in his second stint.
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“They (Wales) are a basket case of a rugby country at the moment, unfortunately,” said Horgan. “Their regions are shambolic, their finances are a disaster, and the difference between Gatland this time and Galtand last time is that he had a generation of remarkable players. Yes, he fostered the right environment, yes he was able to get more out of them as ‘team Wales’ as a collective, but if we look back at it now I think we underestimated how good they were as individuals.
“What he doesn’t have is that group to work with now. He has a very basic group of players that are nowhere near that level, and the problem is he’s not adding anything here. He is, I think, a very good man-manager, a good international coach in that he plays a simplified game, and that’s what he did so well the first time round, but this time he just doesn’t have the level of players.”
Horgan went on to criticise Gatland’s coaching ability by saying: “He doesn’t add anything else as a coach. I don’t know how he retained his job post the autumn series last year....my only thought is because the finances are in such disarray that they couldn’t afford to get rid of him.”
After the heavy defeat at the Stade de France, the host of the Irish coverage on Virgin Media Sport, Joe Molloy, said: “It's not good for this tournament if this is where Wales are. It’s amazing how balanced and even this tournament has been over the last 15 or 20 years. You don’t want games where Italy are playing France and Wales are playing Ireland and they’re two games that we can almost predict. The beauty of the tournament has been that it’s unpredictable, so I’m a touch worried here.”
Former Ireland and Lions star Rob Kearney added: "Too add salt into the wound, that's as good as Wales have played in the last year and they have still come away with zero points. It's a massive worry. It's not good for the Six Nations."
Horgan then had a stark warning for Gatland, saying that his position as head coach will be more or less untenable should Wales lose to Italy in Rome next week. “It’s not a foregone conclusion that they’ll lose all their games," he said. "It makes it a cracker of a game next week against Italy, and a high pressured one. Gatland is hanging on by a hair anyway; if they lose that....I don’t think they jettison him mid-tournament but he won’t stay beyond it.”
