Warren Gatland questions players' anonymous feedback during review into nightmare autumn
Warren Gatland has questioned some of his players' feedback during the review into a disastrous 2024 where Wales didn't win a single game.
Following Wales' defeat to South Africa in the autumn, the Welsh Rugby Union undertook a thorough review into the failings of the national side. As part of the review the players were given the opportunity to give feedback under anonymity.
In the end Gatland received a stay of execution but WRU CEO Abi Tierney admitted the review made for difficult reading for the coaching team. Gatland is one of the most decorated coaches in the world game having won four Six Nations titles, an English Premiership, a Heineken Cup, reached two Rugby World Cup semi-finals and coached the British & Irish Lions on three tours.
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On the flipside the majority of the current crop of players have not experienced any success of note at Test level or within the club game.
"I think for us it gave us an insight into some of the things that they found challenging and things that they wanted more of and stuff," said Gatland when asked what he had taken from the players' feedback.
"So we've taken that on board. But you've also got to realise that they are still young players as well, and that's a small moment of their thoughts.
"The questions that I ask sometimes - of the players that have given feedback and stuff, what has their experience been in a professional winning environment? None of them have really had that experience, so for them how do they know what that looks like?
"Even the people doing the reviews or being part of the review process, those are the questions that I asked myself in terms of what is their experience or involvement in high-level professional sport winning environments. I'd like to think that we've got people who have been involved with that environment and are lucky enough and able to draw on those past experiences and know what it feels and smells like to be part of it."
Failure has become normalised within Welsh rugby with the performances of the men's national side a direct result of everything underneath it. None of Wales' four professional clubs - Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets - are capable of competing at the cutting edge of European rugby, while success has also been scarce throughout the national age-grade sides.
The reality is Wales' top players have become accustomed to losing games, which makes Gatland's job of producing a successful side a tough ask. "I think that there are a number of things for us that are not going to make the difference in the short term," he said.
"I think they will make a difference in the long term. You talk about the investment and the pathway stuff and the academies and how that needs to be better aligned.
"Having people that are involved in the coaching and experienced coaches with the knowledge and the pathway and the academy systems. I think what we're doing with the under-20s at the moment in terms of aligning that, I think I can see some real benefit and positivity coming out of that.
"It's not just from a regional point of view. If you look at the players that are in our squad that were involved in the 20s over recent years, the 20s programme struggled with not many of those players being involved in winning 20s games as well in terms of the Six Nations.
"It's not just at our level that it's come through.That's probably the sad thing at the moment. We're probably a reflection of what Welsh rugby is like. We were probably the anomaly in the past, where we weren't that, we were able to control that or step outside what was happening behind.
"So people are aware of the changes that need to be made to hopefully improve Welsh rugby going forward. It's not going to happen overnight. It's going to take a little bit of time."
Historically, Gatland has been a tough taskmaster and has never shied away from giving honest feedback to his players. But he admits he has had to slightly adapt the way he delivers messages to players.
"There's definitely, I wouldn't say culturally, but I suppose you probably need to temper yourself a little bit to what you might have been in the past in terms of the language you might have used and how direct you were and potentially how critical you were," he said.
"Sometimes you ask the question - are players today as resilient as they might have been, as tough as they might have been. So I'm definitely conscious, and I think not just me, but all the coaches are conscious of probably the way that we speak to the players and the language we use in terms of maybe not knocking their confidence.
"There's definitely been changes probably in the players in terms of that."
