Gatland finally explains what he really meant about England playing their final in the semi-final
Warren Gatland has responded after being witheringly put down by Eddie Jones earlier this week. In the wake of Wales’ semi-final defeat to South Africa on Sunday, Gatland had suggested: ”We have seen in previous World Cups that teams sometimes play their final in semi-finals and don’t always turn up for a final. So it will be interesting to see how England are next week and it could be a good game.”
That remark didn’t go down well with England boss Jones as he prepares his team to face the Springboks in the final following last Saturday’s dethronement of the All Blacks. “You just send my best wishes to Warren to make sure he enjoys the third and fourth place play-off,” said Jones in a tongue-in-cheek comment at England’s media conference on Tuesday.
A day later, having unveiled his XV for that ridiculed third and fourth place play-off versus New Zealand, Gatland elaborated on what he had meant last Sunday when he spoke about England and their final prospects. “I was reflecting on the experiences I’ve seen in the past,” he explained. “I was thinking about 2011 and the All Blacks.
“They had a big game against Australia in the semi-final and they maybe looked at that as their final. They played France in the final and it was probably a game they thought they could potentially win comfortably. It ended up being a very tight game.
“England were excellent against the All Blacks – it was the best I’ve seen England play in the last 10 years. They were outstanding. It will be a great final with two physical teams and I hope a northern hemisphere team can win the World Cup. It would have been great if two of us could have been in the final, but it wasn’t to be.
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“I wish them all the best. There are a lot of players there who I’ve been fortunate to have had personal contact with through the Lions and I want to wish them all the best.”
Gatland, meanwhile, still sounded somewhat sombre about Wales having to play again so soon after their deflating semi-final loss. “It’s the last game you want to be involved in, but it’s been on the calendar and everyone has known about it,” he said when asked about the relevance of Friday’s play-off.
“Steve Tew made a joke to Martyn Phillips that both teams should have a boat race and we could settle it that way. When you put the disappointment behind you, you think about the chance to play the All Blacks and that gets you excited.
Eddie Jones not holding back this week… #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/MNoQCbOxhJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 28, 2019
“Hopefully as coaches we’ve put the disappointment of the last 48 hours behind us and can start getting excited for the next 24. It’s the same for the group of players. We want to go out, perform well, and be positive about the way we play.
“The All Blacks will play the same way. Both teams are quite similar in terms of the synergy we are trying to achieve with the selection. Both of us will want to be positive in the way we want to play.”
For Gatland, Friday’s match marks the end of his twelve-year reign in Wales as he will soon return home to New Zealand and will be in charge of the Chiefs for the 2020 Super Rugby season. “What Wales have given me is an opportunity and I’ve absolutely loved my time. We’ve been lucky enough to have had a lot of success. There have been some lows and disappointments, but I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved,” he reflected.
It’s the game no one wants to play – and TVNZ will not screen the All Blacks’ playoff for the #RWC2019 bronze medal with Wales on Friday night.#RWCFinal #RWCBronze #AllBlacks #WALvNZL #NZLvWAL https://t.co/8oSKVbby0b
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 28, 2019
“We’ve punched massively above our weight and success as a coach isn’t always about winning – it’s about overachieving as a team and we’ve definitely done that. We’re a very small playing nation with a lot of history and the biggest memory I have is the smile we’ve put back on people’s faces to wear the red jersey again and to support the team.
“That makes a massive difference to the whole of Wales as they’re proud of the team and the players wear it with pride. They put in 100 per cent and as a coach that’s all you can ask.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments