Warren Gatland Q&A: I've asked for more time, now it's out of my control

Warren Gatland has named his team to face South Africa amid growing pressure on his position as Wales coach.

The New Zealander has made four personnel changes and one positional switch for the clash with the Springboks, with Blair Murray moved to full-back.

Here's everything the Wales coach had to say...

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Those four changes - are they forced by injury or just selection calls?

"No, we just felt that Aaron Wainwright has done really well. With a six-day turnaround, we wanted to freshen up some legs, which we've done with Taine Plumtree. It’s an opportunity for us to cap Freddie Thomas. He's been training really well. He's a replacement now there's no Adam Beard.

"Again, it’s an opportunity for Rio Dyer to come into the side and push Blair Murray to full-back, where he’s played a lot of rugby. It's not an unfamiliar position for him. We want to see how he goes there. With Sam at 10, Gareth has had two starts there and we want to make sure he continues to get rugby there."

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So the full-back decision is not a reflection on Cameron Winnett?

"Cam's had some experience there. Blair's work-rate has been excellent in terms of wanting to get involved. We want to see how he goes in terms of 15.

"We’re really pleased with Tom Rogers and Rio has been training really well, so he gets an opportunity to come back and perform well."

How are things after the Australia defeat, when emotions were quite raw?

"It’s been good. The boys have had a couple of days off to recover. We had this morning together to do some review stuff, focusing on Saturday."

Is this different to any other game?

"Just focusing on Saturday."

You said you were comfortable with whatever decision was. Do you believe you’ll be in job for Six Nations?

"It’s not something I’ve thought about. I’m just focused solely on preparing the team for this week to do the best job we can. If you start thinking about other things, it’s a distraction you don’t need. You’ve just got to focus on preparing the team the best we can.

"We’ve spoken this morning as a group of forwards in terms of what we can to improve the performance. The backs have been pretty honest too. When you start thinking about other things, it becomes a real distraction."

So you've had no indication you won’t be in charge after this?

"No, I haven’t."

Do you have a strong desire to continue?

"Absolutely."

What makes you confident you're the right man to turn this around?

"I think we’ve been pretty clear in terms of the plan we’ve had. We’ve got a group of young players that need a bit of time. I’ve been pretty honest in terms that I understand the pressures of international rugby with performances and results.

"We can only work as hard as we have done. I’m aware of the pressure and that decisions could be made outside of my control. We’ve just asked for a little bit of time. Whether we get that time, we’ll have to wait and see."

Would you resign if you felt it was best for Welsh rugby?

"If I thought it was in the best interest, absolutely."

How much time do you need?

"On this journey, we’ve needed a bit of time. How long we get given to do that... But I’m fully aware international rugby is about performance and results. Hopefully we go out on Saturday and give a better performance than we did last week. The disappointing thing was at times we switched off.

"We had opportunities that we created but unfortunately we didn’t quite take some of them. We showed some courage to get back in the game. Probably in that second-half, during their red card, we haven't taken advantage of that situation."

How long will it take to return Welsh rugby to the previous highs?

"It's one game at a time."

Do you feel the issues go well beyond you?

"I think that’s a discussion for outside of this. For us, the focus is on this weekend. Probably post the weekend, that's something we could talk about. I don’t want to take away the focus from South Africa this weekend."

How is your relationship with Rassie Erasmus after the 2021 Lions tour?

"We’ve chatted on a couple of occasions about that (Lions tour). You’ve got to go past things that happened on the Lions. We’ve had a couple of chats about that. I think with Rassie, you know what you get from a South African team in terms of that physicality.

"They wear their hearts on their sleeve with how they perform and play. We're well aware of that and what's coming on Saturday. We’ve got to make sure we’re up for that physical battle."

Do you feel this team is close to claiming a scalp?

"With Welsh rugby, you know you’ll have peaks and troughs. Sometimes it's a limited talented pool which takes time to develop. What’s impressed me about South Africa this year is probably for the first time there’s been a real emphasis on developing depth. Rassie probably understands there's some players who won’t be around for the next World Cup. They haven't lost many since winning the World Cup last year so I think they've been conscious of building some depth.

"I haven’t seen that from South Africa before. We’re pretty aware of what will be thrown at us from a physical point of view. When they come under pressure, they resort back to their strengths which is their scrum and maul, trying to get penalties from that dominance. So we have to make sure we're solid with our lineout defence and scrum, not allowing them territory. Because when they get into the 22, they're very tough to stop. I don't think things will change too much. They've got two of the best midfielders in the world in terms of that combination and experience, while they've got some really exciting talent on the outside as well."

Do you feel the pressure on you is unfair?

"I think it’s just something you’ve got to deal with. It’s sport. I got asked the same question on Sunday after the game probably in 10 or 15 different ways. I wasn’t giving the right response. Someone wanted the right response so it became a headline. You’ve got to learn to deal with those things. I’ve tried to be as honest as I possibly can and give an opinion. Sometimes, some of those things are outside of your control.

"We've got to go out there and give a performance. It’s not just myself that's hurting. It’s the players and coaches that are disappointed. We spoke about, as a group, if we can all fix up one or two little things, it'll make a significant difference. Hopefully we can go out there and surprise a few people. There's not a lot of expectation and sometimes that allows you to go out and play with freedom, when the shackles are off."

Is there a break clause in your contract after next year's Six Nations?

"A break clause? In terms of? For me? For me, there's no break clause in my contract after the Six Nations. I don't know where that came from."