Kiwi tactician Warren Gatland has again underlined his coaching credentials by leading Wales into a fourth successive World Cup quarter-final.
The former British & Irish Lions mentor introducing a much-needed clarity to transform a misfiring team into contenders in a timeframe not thought possible.
“A big part of that is when we’ve been together as a group, the preparation time and the hard work has helped us in preparation for World Cups.” There can be no doubting his coaching pedigree, and it was Gatland the Welsh Rugby Union turned to for a second spell after sacking his successor Wayne Pivac.
Wales also slumped to 10th in World Rugby’s official rankings and talismanic figures such as Alun Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Webb have all recently retired from the international game.Gatland admitted he would not have signed up for a second bite of the carrot had he known how entrenched some of the problems were. But he nonetheless insisted pre-World Cup that his team would do “something special” in France.
“The Six Nations didn’t go as well as we would have hoped, but then there has been growth, which comes from working hard, being fit and having real clarity in what you want to achieve in your game. The balance is excellent in this squad between the senior players and young players.”
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