'Write what you want!' The full Warren Gatland press conference transcript after Fiji loss

Warren Gatland says the media can write what they want after his side equalled Wales' longest losing run in Test rugby.

The 24-19 defeat to Fiji in Cardiff was the first defeat in Wales to the Pacific Islanders, while it also made it 10 Test defeats on the bounce for Gatland.

With matches against Australia and South Africa still to come, there's still the possibility of Wales going through an entire calendar year without a Test victory for the first time since 1937 - when Wales lost all three matches that year.

READ MORE:Dan Biggar: It cannot carry on like this, serious questions must be asked of Gatland

READ MORE:Today's rugby news as Warren Gatland highly unlikely to repeat decision that left Wales vulnerable

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With their last victory at Test level - having beaten the Barbarians and Queensland Reds in uncapped matches - coming back in October 2023 against Georgia, Wales have also fallen out of the top 10 in the world rankings in recent times.

They also suffered the ignominy of a first wooden spoon since 2003 - which was also the year for Wales' previous longest losing streak.

When asked if his position was under threat after yet another Test defeat, Gatland said: "You can write about that. The pressure comes externally, basically from the media as it’s a narrative that you create.

"That’s ok from where I sit. We’ve said for the last 12 months since the World Cup, with the number of players and experience that we’ve lost, that we were going to invest in a group of youngsters that we felt we could build with and take us on.

"We’ve seen development from those youngsters. We’ve said we need some patience and time.

"But I understand Test match rugby is about performing and winning. You control the narrative and write what you want. I’ll see what happens there."

Since returning to the job in December 2022, Gatland has just won six of his 22 Test matches in charge - a win percentage of just 27.3 per cent.

For context, his win percentage across the same number of games in his first spell in charge of Wales was 63.6 per cent, while Wayne Pivac - who coached Wales for three years between Gatland's two spells - won 45.5 per cent of his first 22 matches in charge.

Here's everything the Wales coach had to say after the defeat to Fiji...

The Wales v Fiji inquest podcast

What are your initial thoughts after that defeat?

"Just frustrated really. We tried to be positive in the way that we played and we showed glimpses of that in the way that we started. We could have been 20 points up. We were guilty and we put our hands up some things we need to be better at.

"I thought we were pretty unlucky on some calls against us, which haven’t helped as well. We’re frustrated as it’s definitely a game we’ve gone out there and targeted to win. And we’ve come up a bit short."

Did you feel confident after that strong start?

"There were things we wanted to do. We were trying to mix it up. We talked about moving their big forwards around and look to take their legs off them. We had some success from our drive and then some nice success from some of the attacking shape we’ve been looking to play from. We created some space and scored that first try.

"On a couple of other occasions, that Tommy Reffell yellow card, we’ve created opportunities. For me, there were a number of positives in terms of that. I just spoke in the changing room that everyone should be disappointed but the boys have worked hard in the last couple of weeks. We’ve got to get back on the horse on Tuesday and tidy up some things that will help improve us."

Did today show the risks of a six-two bench?

"Other teams get away with it. All of a sudden, we have a six-two split and the one position we could be exposed we lose Mason Grady on the wing. That was a little bit tough for us and difficult for Sam to have to go on there and cover us for quite a length of the game."

How is Grady?

"He’s got an ankle injury at the moment. Not too sure how bad it is. He’ll probably need to be scanned tomorrow."

Did you think you’d get back into it after Fiji comeback in the second-half?

"Absolutely. We knew we’d get some opportunities. We knew, given the chance, with some quality set-piece, we could create those chances. But knowing what Fiji are like, they hang in the game, throw the ball around and get excited by those types of things.

"They were able to do that on a couple of occasions and put us under pressure. Like I said, we’ve created chances and been a bit unlucky with some calls as well."

Where’s the next win coming from?

"Hopefully next week. It was supposed to be today. I’ve been around long enough to understand that Test match rugby is about performing and winning. But trying to take a little bit of pressure off the players so they don’t feel too much pressure themselves, so they have that confidence to go out there, be accurate and play.

"I thought there were lots of good things out there today we can build on for next week. If you feel like the world’s caving in on you, that stops you from going out there to play and express yourself. There’s probably one or two moments there where players, when they look back, will think if they were more accurate and got the ball away, we could have created opportunities. But in fairness to the boys, that’s the first thing they’ll do is look at themselves and see where they can be better for next week."

What did you make of Australia?

"It was a bit hard to read really. They showed some real courage. They were under the pump in those first 15 minutes. They scored and got back into it.

"It was a pretty topsy-turvy game in terms of the points that were scored. England being in front and then Australia coming back and scoring. We’ll have a closer look at their performance when we prepare for next week."

You've previously been in favour of the 20-minute red card - is that still the case after today?

"I’m in favour if it’s deemed to not be reckless or deliberate. The only thing I can say about that is there’s no arms used in there, he’s gone in with his shoulder and there’s been head-on-head contact.

"That’s where they need to make a decision on, if he’s gone to wrap his arms and he’s caught someone high, I can see why it can be a 20-minute red card. But they’ve got to deem whether it’s foul play of a certain standard. I think it keeps the game alive. It probably gave Fiji an opportunity to get back in the game. I don’t see that as being bad for the game."

Will this discourage you to do the 6-2 split again?

"Probably. We were going to get a bit of bad luck and it happened today. Probably the wrong player has gone on as a replacement. We talked about Ellis Bevan going on there.

"That was something we had to deal with. It’s difficult. We had a long debate about that and long discussion about the six-two split. The first time you do that and you get caught in the one position you’re a bit vulnerable."

How did you end up putting on the wrong player?

"Ellis was supposed to go on. I need to get to the bottom of that. We were talking and said we’re going to put Ellis on. And then Sam’s ran on the field.

"I think he might have assumed he was the person going on. We had already had those discussions with Ellis that if we do lose a winger, you’re going to need to cover us there."

Do you intend to be honest and upfront with players this week?

"Absolutely. One thing about this group is they are pretty honest with themselves. They’ll put their hand up and look at moments where they could have been a bit more accurate or potentially worked a bit harder. There’ll be times where they needed to fix up things defensively. At half-time, we showed players where our kick chase could have been a bit better.

"We’ve just stopped a little bit and allowed them to have a crack at us, rather than being much more aggressive in shutting the space down. Those are fixes for us that we’ll be able to rectify. The players are pretty aware of that. They’ll look at their own performance and where they could have been better, as well as how we could have been collectively better."