Warren Gatland defends comments, issues Faletau news and stays tight-lipped on Adam Jones
Warren Gatland has defended comments questioning the lack of winning experience held by many involved in the recent independent review into Welsh rugby.
The Wales coach came under fire in some quarters after he questioned the feedback from players in the recent review, undertaken after Wales lost all 11 Test matches in 2024.
Speaking after naming his Six Nations squad last week, Gatland said: "The questions I ask sometimes, of the players that have given feedback and stuff, what has their experience been in a professional winning environment?"
READ MORE: Netflix show reveals moment George North spotted big problem within Wales squad and called it out
READ MORE: Today's rugby news as France v Wales official replaced after shock news and Gatland flies to Rome
Former Wales captain Ellis Jenkins called Gatland's comments "poor", with Gatland seeking to offer some more context to his comments at the Six Nations launch event in Rome.
"I was making a general comment," he said. "The thing is sometimes you can make a comment and people take one thing out of context and make an issue out of it.
"All I was saying was that sometimes when people are involved in doing reviews, whether it’s players or other people involved – and I think there were 20 or so involved – sometimes their experience of what high performance environments they’ve been involved in. I wasn’t trying to be critical of anyone, it’s just being aware of noting those things."
The findings of the review suggested changes to the Wales set-up were needed, with the ambition of "improving mindset, mentality and culture within the squad".
Former Wales tighthead prop and Harlequins coach Adam Jones is understood to be close to joining Wales' coaching staff alongside sports psychologist Andy McCan, although Gatland remained tight-lipped on the subject.
"There's nothing for us to announce at the moment," he said in Rome. "When we're able to do that, hopefully soon, we'll be able to make an announcement."
However, he did admit Wales would not be making mass changes as they looked to turn their fortunes around after 12 straight Test defeats.
"We had changed things up in the November window," he added. "We’ve looked at traditionally when we do double days.
"We’ve changed when we’ve had our meetings and timings. There are always subtle changes you can make in terms of how you prepare and do thing differently.
"The thing that happens when you go through a period of not having a great run like we’ve had in the last 12 months is that sometimes everyone looks for the magic bullet and you have all these ideas and thoughts. Sometimes you’ve got to keep going.
"You can’t change everything. There are subtle changes you can make to look at improving environments and changing things up and being better. That’s something I have to keep in mind. Everyone has their own opinion and ideas. It’s about how you keep that balance.
"I can remember going to a breakfast one day and talking to a coach. He was talking about how they’d made a couple of finals in two consecutive years. He spoke about they ripped up the playbook and started again with different changes.
"In my mind I said “what the hell are you doing?” because it doesn’t need to be radical changes. It can be wee little tweaks to fix things up.
"I’ve often experienced it when everyone has a thought and says we should do this or that. Then all of a sudden you completely change things. From my point of view, when you’ve been involved in successful environments it’s about how do you make the right changes and the right selections without throwing the baby out with the bathwater."
Bringing back experience to the squad is something Gatland has continually pointed to as a positive for Wales in this year's Six Nations, with Wales able to call upon Liam Williams, Josh Adams, Dafydd Jenkins and Taulupe Faletau.
The latter hasn't played Test rugby for over a year and was thought to be a doubt for the opening fixture against France in Paris, with Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt saying he was "touch and go" for the tournament curtain-raiser.
However, Gatland was far more confident on the fitness of the No. 8.
"At the moment, the update from the medical team is that everyone should be available for the first game," he said. "We had Toby in during the autumn and it was obvious even in training, when he wasn't running around fully fit, what a quality and experience international he is, with some of the lines he ran and some of his touches.
"I know he's worked really hard in the last year or two in terms of getting back and he's motivated. He wants to have a really good Six Nations. There's a carrot at the end of the season, with a Lions tour. I think he's pretty motivated to make an impressions and see if he can be selected for that."
