Warren Gatland reveals World Cup winner's message minutes after Wales defeat
Warren Gatland has revealed the compliment paid by a double World Cup winner to his youthful Wales squad after last autumn's clash with South Africa.
Wales endured a miserable 2024, losing all 11 Test matches throughout the year. The last of those was against the Springboks in Cardiff, with Rassie Erasmus' side easing to a 45-12 win.
However, despite the one-sided nature of the game, Gatland claimed that South Africa centre Jesse Kriel was full of praise for Gatland's side after the full-time whistle.
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“We lost to South Africa in the autumn and we were 19-0 down but after that we gave everything from a physical point of view against the best team in the world,” he told the Sunday Times. “I was in the changing room afterwards with the South African players, I had a chat with Jesse Kriel.
"He said, ‘Look, I know you’ve got a lot of youngsters at the moment and you’re building for the future, but I can tell you one thing, I am really sore. I am so much sorer after that game than I was after we played England and Scotland.’
“I sat back and went to talk to our players about it, said that we have to be more accurate, have a better set piece and that we made some defensive errors.
"But from a mental point of view in terms of the effort that we put out there, you could not question it. To me that was a pretty good starting point with praise coming from the Boks.”
Gatland also spoke about how his approach with players had changed over the years, with the Wales coach saying he has now adopted a softer stance.
“The older players in a team that is more established can take the criticism and you can lose your temper once or twice and have a real crack at them,” he added.
“But now you have to pick your moments with a younger group of players. You do not want them to go into their shells, but definitely the language has probably softened a little bit.”
