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Wales number eight Aaron Wainwright says “we are all in this together” as speculation rages about head coach Warren Gatland’s future following a record 11 successive Test match defeats.
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Wainwright admitted he understood the reaction of many fans who made an early Principality Stadium exit as Wales lost 52-20 against Autumn Nations Series opponents Australia on Sunday.
Gatland could still be in charge for Saturday’s daunting appointment with world champions South Africa, but whether he remains there for a Six Nations campaign that begins against France in Paris 10 weeks later appears increasingly uncertain.
Speaking after the Wallabies’ biggest win against Wales for 28 years, Gatland said he had already had conversations with Welsh Rugby Union executive director of rugby Nigel Walker and chair Richard Collier-Keywood and was comfortable with “whatever the best decision for Welsh rugby is”.
There had been an air of finality that pervaded his post-match press conference, mixed with an occasional defiant note.
He has overseen just six wins from 23 Tests during his second stint as head coach, while Wales have dropped outside the world’s top 10-ranked countries and last tasted Test match success during the 2023 World Cup.
More than 20 players have been capped by Gatland in his attempt to mould a new squad, but results-wise Wales are at the lowest point in their 143-year international rugby history.
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“We are all in this together,” Wainwright said. “The players are out there on the pitch, so we have to step up and do our thing.
“It is a collective effort. All of us need to reflect on how we performed in our own roles and see what we can improve on.
“We have got a couple of good senior figures in the group that keep relaying the message that we need to keep believing in ourselves and on our day we can go out there and beat any team.”
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The latter stages of Australia’s second-half stroll were played out before hundreds of empty seats, and Wainwright added: “If I put myself in that position and I was a fan and my team had been on a losing streak, I would be a little bit disappointed and upset.
“For us as players we need to really put our mark down going into next weekend.
“We’ve got ourselves into this, so we are the ones that are going to have to get ourselves out of it, and I think when we do that we will reap the rewards and hopefully the fans will still be there cheering us on.
“We want to go out there and win and perform and give the fans something to get excited about, to get Welsh rugby back in a positive light and get out of this hole we are in.”
In terms of Gatland, there are mitigating factors, with a number of front-line players – star names such as Alun Wyn Jones, George North and Dan Biggar – retiring from Test rugby during the last 18 months, while Louis Rees-Zammit went to the NFL and influential number eight Taulupe Faletau has been a long-term injury absentee.
But there can be no hiding place from results – home defeats against Italy and Fiji and more than 30 points conceded against Australia (twice), South Africa, France and Ireland.
Wales’ four professional regions, meanwhile, cannot make any consistent impact, with none of them having qualified for this season’s Champions Cup, and they currently occupy two of the bottom three United Rugby Championship places.
Asked how difficult it would be to bounce back against South Africa – the Springboks have beaten Wales six times from the last seven meetings – Gatland said: “When you are involved in professional sport, those are the challenges that define you as an individual.
“When you get out in that arena, you have got a lot of people looking at you. It’s how you front up to the challenge.”
