Warren Gatland driven by ‘external pressure’ as he looks to end ‘incredibly challenging year’ on a high

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has backed his team to use an “incredibly challenging year” as a springboard to bigger and better things in the end-of-year Tests.

Gatland will announce his squad for the Autumn Nations Series on Monday and the objective will be abundantly clear for those selected – end a dismal losing run.

Wales take on Fiji, Australia and South Africa at the Principality Stadium next month and will be desperate to break a nine-Test losing streak as soon as possible.

Need a win

Also hovering over Gatland‘s men is they are one loss away from equalling the country’s worst run from between 2002 and 2003 as they look to turn the corner.

Despite the results that included a 2-0 series defeat to the Wallabies in July and later an injury setback to Dafydd Jenkins, Gatland is putting on a positive spin.

“It has been an incredibly challenging year and I’m the first to put my hand up and recognise that, but I’m excited about the challenges ahead,” he told the Welsh Rugby Union website.

“I promise you we’re going to work incredibly hard as a group and hopefully we can show some development as a squad in the autumn campaign. That’s important.”

Wales centre scores hat-trick in Gloucester defeat

He added: “As a coaching group we’ve identified a number of young players who are outstanding prospects for Wales in the future and who are incredibly talented. We’ve gone down that road and we want to spend more time with developing these players.

“It’s about having the confidence and self-belief that you’re making the best decisions for Welsh rugby. It’s probably an unusual position for me to be in where you’re under that pressure, but I’m excited about the challenge.”

Gatland will have been an interested observer as Max Llewellyn scored a hat-trick for Gloucester on Sunday while Scarlets impressed against the Bulls on Friday.

Expectation

But he is fully aware that their passionate fans demand results at Test level and is not shirking away from the challenge that lies ahead in the full glare of pressure.

“I’m well aware that international rugby is about performance and about results and that’s just a fact we have to deal with,” admits the head coach.

“With that comes expectation and external pressure – but that’s what drives me and gives me the motivation to get out there and work these players hard to hopefully get some results in the autumn.”

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