Jamie Roberts accuses Warren Gatland of lying after Wales head coach’s response to ‘out of line’ criticism
Wales head coach Warren Gatland and former centre Jamie Roberts.
Jamie Roberts has claimed that Warren Gatland lied in his press conference after the head coach responded to the Wales legend’s criticism following the Fiji loss.
The 61-year-old was offered a chance to answer his detractors after he named his team to face the Wallabies this weekend.
Gatland has come under fire following Wales’ latest defeat to Fiji, which was their 10th Test reversal in a row.
Roberts, who played under the New Zealander for years and was a key part of the country’s success, was one of those to add his voice to the debate.
‘Gatland’s spin’
“He says they are growing as a group,” Roberts said in his role for S4C. “I have to disagree to be honest.
“Losing 10 on the bounce – that’s the worst Wales have been in the professional era. I understand the spin Warren is trying to give, but sorry, I don’t think Wales have moved forward.”
Another former player, Mike Phillips, was also scathing of Gatland, whose position has been questioned following their dreadful run, but the Wales boss particularly focused on Roberts’ criticism.
“I haven’t really thought about it [his own position], we will see what happens. It is not in my mind at the moment,” the head coach said. “I hadn’t seen the comments.
“My son rung me about that this morning and said: ‘Have you seen the comments?’ He was probably more upset about them than I was.
“I take some of those comments with a little bit of a grain of salt. I don’t have any issues with it. He [Roberts] is paid to do a job from a punditry point of view, and there are no issues from my perspective.
“I know there are a couple of people who have contacted him and sent him messages and said he was a bit out of line, but that is their opinion as well.”
However, Roberts snapped back and took exception to Gatland’s comments, claiming on X, formerly Twitter, that the head coach’s version of events were incorrect.
“Literally no one’s messaged or contacted me”, the Wales legend wrote, accompanied by a couple of laughing emojis.
😂😂 Literally no one’s messaged or contacted me 🤷🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/kivNU1oJkb
— Jamie Roberts (@Jamiehuwroberts) November 13, 2024
Phillips’ X-rated attack
While Roberts has been critical of Gatland, former scrum-half Phillips went a step further and called on the Welsh Rugby Union to sack him.
“Loads of positives yeah, you’re on 600k a year and don’t even have to win! How the WRU bring this guy back is just nuts! Laughing all the way to the bank,” he wrote on social media.
“When I see this guy talking about family makes me cringe. Did he speak to me at the end of my career, did he f! I won for this guy.
“This bloke is only out for himself, and it kills me to see all this bulls*** praise he’s getting. He deserves to be kicked out, like he did to so many quality Welsh players.”
