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Warren Gatland : ne nous éliminez pas trop vite
Warren Gatland se dit enthousiaste à l’idée de faire émerger une nouvelle génération de talents dès le Tournoi des Six Nations de cette saison.
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Gatland a retenu cinq novices dans son équipe pour le Tournoi, le deuxième-ligne d’Exeter, Dafydd Jenkins, 21 ans, prenant la place de Jac Morgan, blessé, en tant que capitaine.
Une équipe en partie renouvelée
Jac Morgan et son partenaire de la Coupe du Monde Dewi Lake sont absents pour un long moment, tandis que les blessures ont également mis sur la touche le numéro huit Taulupe Faletau, que l’ailier Louis Rees-Zammit a quitté le rugby pour tenter de faire carrière dans le football américain, et que des joueurs tels que Dan Biggar et Leigh Halfpenny ont pris leur retraite du rugby international.
Près de la moitié des 34 joueurs de l’équipe de Gatland n’ont pas encore atteint les deux chiffres en nombres de sélections, et cette inexpérience collective a contribué à ce que le Pays de Galles soit considéré par beaucoup comme un handicap pour le Tournoi des Six Nations.
« Ce que je vois moi, c’est que nous avons un groupe de jeunes joueurs très talentueux et deux blessés en ce moment, Jac Morgan et Dewi Lake, qui, je pense, vont devenir des joueurs de classe mondiale », a déclaré le sélectionneur du Pays de Galles, Warren Gatland, lors de la conférence de presse du Tournoi des Six Nations à Dublin.
Une chance de former un nouveau groupe
« Je vois ça comme une chance de former de jeunes talents et de leur donner l’opportunité de prendre le contrôle de la façon dont ils veulent que l’équipe fonctionne, en termes de travail avec les entraîneurs, et d’établir leurs propres normes. C’est ce qui me passionne le plus.
« Nous abordons le Tournoi des Six Nations sans que les gens aient trop d’attentes à notre égard ou qu’ils nous éliminent trop tôt, et c’est toujours une bonne position à prendre.
« On dit souvent à propos du Pays de Galles que c’est à vos risques et périls que vous nous éliminez, car nous travaillerons énormément….
« On va prendre un match à la fois, et si nous commençons bien contre l’Écosse, nous gagnerons en confiance et en momentum. L’avantage des joueurs gallois, c’est qu’ils deviennent extrêmement difficiles à battre, et c’est sur cela que je fonde mes espoirs. »
Toujours des difficultés financières
Bien que le rugby régional gallois évolue actuellement dans un climat financier délicat qui continue de toucher les quatre équipes professionnelles, Gatland est optimiste quant à la mise en place d’un groupe de joueurs en grande partie renouvelé.
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Le Pays de Galles entamera sa campagne contre l’Écosse le 3 février, avant d’affronter successivement l’Angleterre, l’Irlande et la France, et Gatland sait que l’élan est essentiel.
« Il y a un peu de pessimisme de la part de pas mal de gens, mais je ne vois pas les choses comme ça », a-t-il ajouté.
« Je vois cela comme une remise à niveau des régions sur le plan financier, avec le soutien de la fédération (Welsh Rugby Union), et les jeunes de 19, 20 et 21 ans ont maintenant une opportunité qu’ils n’auraient pas eue dans le passé.
Un Tournoi à prendre au sérieux
« De toutes les nations de niveau 1, nous sommes celle qui a la plus petite base de joueurs, alors quand nous voyons un joueur de talent, nous devons l’exposer et voir s’il est possible de le faire progresser rapidement.
« Ce n’est pas une question d’âge ou d’expérience, il s’agit de permettre à ce talent de se développer. Il faut absolument penser à l’avenir et pas seulement à ce cycle et à la prochaine Coupe du monde, mais aussi à celui qui suivra.
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« Nous avons cinq nouveaux joueurs et huit joueurs qui n’ont jamais participé au Tournoi des Six Nations. Ils apprendront et se développeront grâce à cette expérience, mais cela ne signifie pas que nous ne prenons pas la compétition au sérieux.
« Notre premier match contre l’Écosse est extrêmement important. Un match après l’autre et le premier est d’une importance capitale pour nous, à domicile. »
Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
1 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
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