Warren Gatland Q&A: Why I made coaching changes and the big call in front row
Warren Gatland has named his Wales team for Friday's Six Nations opener against France in Paris.
Taulupe Faletau has been ruled out with injury, but Josh Adams and Liam Williams return as Wales look to end a record run of 12 defeats at Test level.
Here's everything the Wales coach had to say after naming his team...
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Has it been difficult to get players in the right frame of mind after so many defeats?
"They’ve been outstanding. They’ve come in and worked hard. There’s been a good buzz around the group. We’ve been really clear in the way we want to attack against France. The boys have been excellent."
How has preparation gone ahead of the France game?
"It’s gone really well. The boys have been good. Probably today and over the next couple of days, it’s about coaches taking a step back and allowing the players to lead, take some real ownership over the next couple of days."
Was it an easy call to bring back in Josh Adams and Liam Williams for their experience?
"That was part of our thinking, in terms of bringing some experience back in and trying to get a balance between those players, with what they’ve done in the past, having a voice and giving some confidence to those around them."
Williams spoke this week about players not speaking up in meetings - has that been a challenge since you returned to the job?
"It’s always been a challenge getting some of the Welsh players comfortable and confident talking in meetings. Liam probably knows what it was like when he was a young player. He wasn’t always the most confident speaking up in team meetings, but you develop that over time.
"You develop your leadership and confidence. It’s been pleasing to see some of those players take a real positive lead. Ben Thomas has been excellent. Jac Morgan, Josh Adams and Liam have been really good in giving clear messages. Nick Tompkins and Owen Watkin as well. There’s a real positive buzz around the squad at the moment."
What is the thinking behind moving Ben Thomas back to fly-half?
"We still want to see Ben as a 10 option. We spoke to him about that. He was comfortable about wanting to take on that responsibility. He’s had a bit of time there. His last game for Cardiff was there at 10. I thought he went pretty well there. He’s comfortable defending there, having defended at 12. He’s able to handle traffic coming down his channel. For Dan, we see him as an exciting player for the future.
"We wanted him to come in during the autumn and have that experience. Unfortunately, he had a groin issue and a head knock so he wasn’t able to do that. He’s been playing some good rugby. He’s calm. I’ve spoken to a number of the Ospreys players, who have spoken really positively about his growth and leadership within the Ospreys environment. We’re just giving him a bit of time. Hopefully he comes on and gets his first cap."
Was experience the key with your midfield selections?
"We probably haven’t had a lot of options at 13. We have players comfortable at 12, but we don’t have depth there in Wales. It’s nice Joe Roberts is back and is in contention. We’ve looked at that midfield and gone with the experience of Owen and Nick in those positions."
Do you feel there's more confidence in camp given some of the Welsh teams have been doing well?
"It’s always nice when that happens and you see players come in with a spring in their step because of their club performances. You want players winning regularly because it does makes a huge difference to the confidence of players coming ."
Why is Taulupe Faletau not involved?
"He’s just not quite ready. He made the call on Tuesday to say he’s not quite ready for selection. He’s still part of the squad and he’ll still come with us. We’re hoping he’ll be right for Italy."
With Faletau, what exactly is the injury and will he available for the rest of the tournament?
"That’s the plan. He made the call and said I’ve got to put the team first. He’s not 100 per cent. His knee is a bit sore at the moment. He didn’t feel he’d be 100 per cent for Friday so he wanted some more time for Italy."
Can you talk us through the coaching changes you've made ahead of the Six Nations?
"There’s always times when you’re looking to make some changes. You’re looking at the number of coaches in the group. We’ve added some people into the environment in Adam Jones and Andy McCann. We made the decision that Alex King wasn’t going to be part of the environment for this Six Nations, with Rob leading in that area. Adam has been good, it’s been a different voice. He’s fitted in nicely. He’s been saying there’s not a huge amount of preparation time to prepare a scrum. He’s done a few sessions and has fitted in well."
What will Andy McCann offer specifically?
"Andy’s done a few presentations to us. I think the positive about Andy is, when he’s presenting to the group, he’s talking about the realities of professional sport, real life and creating resilience in terms of mental toughness. Things you need at this level and experiences he’s had in the past with players like George North and Sam Warburton.
"He brings a wealth of experience and it’s just someone who has that experience, not just in rugby, but other sports. He’s worked with Olympic rowers to break records, he was with the military. He’s got a wealth of knowledge in other disciplines too. The message is always the same. It’s about hard work and it’s not always easy. You’ve got to be tough and resilient. He’s already been excellent and has started to develop some relationships with the squad."
Ahead of his Six Nations return, is Antoine Dupont one of the best ever to play the game?
"He’s definitely up there for that position because of the influence he has on a game whether he’s playing for France, for Toulouse, or even for France in the sevens. You can see the influence he has. He’s not the biggest in the world when you’re standing next to him but he’s incredibly quick. He’s powerful. He’s got great vision. We’ve spoken about him a little bit, but our whole focus can’t be on him.
"He’s excellent at staying on his feet in contact and keeping the ball alive. You don’t see him get tackled a huge amount, unless he’s in the wider channels. He’s got an excellent kicking game, kicks off both feet. We’ve got a huge amount of respect for him as a player and a captain. One of the things I admire about him is how humble he is. He’s one of those guys who comes from a village not too far from Castres and got recruited by Toulouse. I think his upbringing defines him as a person."
Tackle statistics were a weakness last year - how do you fix that ahead of Friday?
"Our tackle percentage has been in the high eighties. That’s definitely something we’ve been something we’ve been talking about and working on. We need to stop their offloading game because that’s when France come alive and it’s difficult to stop. We have to make sure defensively our systems are right and our fold is right, our numbers are right, and we stick on those tackles."
Was the previous poor defence down to system errors?
"Sometimes. Sometimes we’ve identified it’s player errors where maybe they’re a little bit inexperienced and have stepped in where they probably shouldn’t have and should have held their width. We’ve ended up getting short on the fold a couple of times as well. It’s been something we’ve definitely focused on this week."
Was Tompkins's experience the reason for his recall?
"I think so yeah. When we picked the team with Liam Williams and Josh Adams, there was Owen (Watkin) to come back in too and Nick with his experience. He’s been involved in big games over the years – not just for Wales but also with Saracens. He’s won trophies as well. He brings energy. He’s a livewire on the pitch. That experience and voice is going to be key for the guys inside and outside him."
Are you hopeful ahead of this tournament?
"I’m excited. The boys have been good. We’ve spoken about the fact that ironically, there is probably more pressure and expectation on them. There is expectation from their fans. They expect their team to throw the ball around and score tries. From experience and my point of view, teams can try a bit too much early on and throw the ball around and that gives you opportunities.
"We look back at last year and we were in front at the hour mark before their bench came on and made a massive impact. That’s why we’ve tried to get our bench right with some of the experience on it."
How big a call is it to start Evan Lloyd?
"I know he hasn't had a lot of starts and Elliot Dee hasn't had a lot of starts. I didn't really consider Sam (parry) for this week. He had some tight hamstring issues last week and didn't take a lot of part in training. I just think he's definitely a player of the future.
"He's a big man. We know how good he is around the field. Yes, he's got some learning to do from his set piece stuff. Probably for that one I had a chat to Elliot and he's been outstanding for us in the past coming off the bench: the work rate, the energy that he brings, big moments under pressure, nailing line-outs and stuff. That was around the decision that we made. International games tend to be pretty tight in that first 20 or 30 minutes. I think him starting will give him some confidence.
"We've got a couple of players that have a lot of experience in France in terms of Henry Thomas and Will Rowlands around them. I think we've got quite a big physical forward pack as well. They've got a couple of injuries and they've moved a back rower into the second row with Roumat. I think the thing for Evan is that he's going to have a lot of nerves and a lot of stuff, it's just us trying to get around him and show him that we have confidence and belief in him. For him going out knowing that there's people in Wales hoping that he's going to do well.
"It's going to be a challenge for him. Again, we talked about the negativity, I don't want that negativity to get to him where people are saying that he shouldn't be selected or he's not good enough to be there. Like I said, I think he's an outstanding rugby player. There's a few things that he needs to learn around his game in terms of that set piece stuff. We just need to back him and hopefully people get behind him and give him that confidence and wish him well in terms of his first start for Wales in the Six Nations."
