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Gatland: I got Sinckler comments wrong
Wales boss Warren Gatland says that “sometimes you get your pants pulled down” when making comments about players.
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England prop Kyle Sinckler returns to the Principality Stadium on Saturday – six months after Gatland said “emotionally, he can be a bit of a timebomb” and “there is a challenge sometimes with his temperament”.
Gatland made those remarks prior to a Six Nations showdown between the countries in Cardiff that saw Wales triumph 21-13 on their way to a Grand Slam-winning campaign.
Earlier in that tournament, Sinckler was embroiled in an exchange with Ireland flanker Peter O’Mahony in Dublin, and against France eight days later he was reminded of “rugby’s values” by match referee Nigel Owens after slapping Les Bleus forward Arthur Iturria on the head.
Sinckler, who is among England’s replacements this weekend, was taken off by head coach Eddie Jones 55 minutes into that Cardiff clash.
He had conceded two key penalties in quick succession and had an ongoing battle with Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones, although an outstanding overall performance before then was highlighted by him making 16 first-half tackles.
“I saw him on Sunday (at Twickenham) and shook his hand,” said Gatland, who coached Sinckler on the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand. “I made a couple of comments about him in the Six Nations. I thought he was brilliant and played exceptionally well against us for most of that game.
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“There is no doubt he is an outstanding player. His work-rate in the Six Nations for that time he was on the pitch was outstanding with the number of tackles and carries he made. Sometimes you make comments about players and it can be effective.
“It wasn’t so much about him, it was probably seeing the reaction of three or four English players who it had more of an impact on because they were constantly looking out for him. Sometimes comments are effective, sometimes you get your pants pulled down.
? Vengeance of Genge ?
Bane impersonations: just one of the many talents of @EllisGenge ?
Watch the latest full Rising Sons episode here: https://t.co/TGFOZgtA19 #WearTheRose ? pic.twitter.com/YB0k6sYi56
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) August 15, 2019
“I made a comment about (former England captain) Dylan Hartley a few years ago, and he was the man of the match and made me look like an idiot. I want the best for Kyle. He’s an outstanding player. He knows there are a couple of things to work on in his game, and hopefully he does that.”
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Of far more concern to Gatland will be how Wales respond following last weekend’s 33-19 defeat against England when the Six Nations champions encountered unfamiliar set-piece problems. Their scrum came under pressure, and an overthrown lineout ball by Wales hooker Ken Owens led directly to an England try just before half-time as they opened up a 14-point lead.
BRODYR ? James and Jonathan Davies will be the first pair of brothers to play alongside each other for Wales since Jamie and Nicky Robinson in 2006. pic.twitter.com/S0dDdU9LRf
— Welsh Rugby Union ??????? (@WelshRugbyUnion) August 15, 2019
French referee Mathieu Raynal was at the helm last Sunday, and Gatland added: “I was really disappointed with how the scrums were controlled. “We have gone in there and tried to be positive about how we have been told they will be refereed. We felt there was a lot of early pushing and pre-engagement.
“Having spoken to World Rugby about that in terms of the way it’s going to be managed and what we were originally told it would be controlled, we felt that definitely wasn’t the case on Sunday. We needed to react quicker and better to the way it was controlled, but we didn’t do that. The scrum will definitely improve this weekend.
“When you go back and look at the scrums in our game and then look at the ones in the Ireland versus Italy game or the Argentina versus South Africa game last weekend, they are completely different in terms of starting position, set-up and engagement. We need clarity and consistency in that area.”
– Press Association
WATCH: Warren Gatland talks to the media after unveiling his team to face England this Saturday in Cardiff
Comments on RugbyPass
Je 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!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 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.
25 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.
25 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 commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments