Wales have never even made a final, let alone won a World Cup
Warren Gatland believes it would be an “unbelievable” achievement for Wales to reach the Rugby World Cup final.
The Six Nations champions will contest the Webb Ellis Cup against England or New Zealand if they beat South Africa in Yokohama on Sunday.
Two previous World Cup semi-final appearances – in 1987 and 2011 – resulted in defeats at the hands of New Zealand and France, respectively.
But Wales have won 20 of their last 23 Tests, bringing an exciting conclusion to Gatland’s success-laden coaching reign that started 12 years ago.
“I just think for us to get to the final of a World Cup, it will be unbelievable given the small playing numbers we have in Wales,” head coach Gatland said.
“We feel like we continually punch above our weight.
“But the greatest thing about this group of players, since I have been involved with Wales, is when they put that red jersey on and play for Wales, how much that means.
“If we can make the World Cup final with the playing numbers we have got, it would be one hell of an achievement.
“It’s one step at a time. We have got a challenge on our hands on Sunday against a side that has been improving.
“I am excited about it. I’m more looking forward to this game than I was last week (the quarter-final against France), and more confident about this game than we probably were against France.
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“There are probably nine or 10 players who won’t be involved in another World Cup as well, so they have got to relish that opportunity and be excited about this.
“You have got a chance to do something special in your life, and these chances come along very rarely and you have got to grab them with both hands.
“When you want something bad enough and you really, really want it, then it can happen.”
Gatland will head home to New Zealand to coach Hamilton-based Super Rugby side the Chiefs next year before taking charge of the 2021 British and Irish Lions’ South Africa tour.
“I have not looked that far ahead,” he added. “I am not sure the WRU (Welsh Rugby Union) would let me take the World Cup back to New Zealand!
For all the Wales fans who made it through the night without any nightmares… We've got some bad news for you. https://t.co/mTWyK6B754 #RWC2019 #RWCYokohama #WALvRSA
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 25, 2019
“They are things you have to dream about, and one of the things about me is that I am probably the greatest optimist in terms of believing something is possible and that there is a dream.
“If you don’t have that attitude and portray it, it will not happen. A big part of success is the belief and the desire to do something.
“That is what we will be building on in the next two days, and I can go back to New Zealand with my head held high.
“The biggest thing I am proud of (with Wales) is that I think we have earned respect from the rest of the world in terms of what we have achieved in the last 12 years.
“The world rankings where we were at (10th), what we have achieved in terms of Six Nations and Grand Slams… I would love to beat the All Blacks, and that is one thing I have not achieved. Respect for what we have done is the biggest thing.”
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Wales have beaten South Africa five times in the last six meetings, although it has not prevented Wales from being written off in some quarters.
“If they continue to do that (write Wales off) over the next couple of days, that would be brilliant,” Gatland said. “Please continue to do that, as it does get us up when people write us off.
“It will probably be a kicking fest (on Sunday), they (South Africa) kicked 30 times against Japan, so we just have got to be able to handle their game.
“It won’t be the prettiest game in the world, it will be a tight Test match with probably teams playing for territory, depending on what the weather is like.”
Sebastien Vahaamahina was sent off during France’s loss to Wales in the World Cup semi-finals, but he’ll be spending a lot more than just 40 minutes on the sidelines:
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 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
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 Go to comments