Warren Gatland’s Wales face biggest challenge in Six Nations history

Wales face arguably their biggest challenge in Six Nations history this season as they go into the tournament following 12 successive Test defeats and with a head coach under huge pressure.

Warren Gatland’s team are not expected to feature at the competition’s business end.

And it is easy to see why, having not won a Test match since beating Georgia during the 2023 World Cup and reeling from an autumn campaign that produced landslide losses against Australia and South Africa after being defeated by Fiji.

Gatland then came under further scrutiny as the Welsh Rugby Union conducted a detailed post-autumn review, with another one promised after the Six Nations.

Although he was given the green light to continue, Gatland’s future as Wales boss remains a subject of debate among fans and commentators.

Wales ended up with the Six Nations wooden spoon last season, losing all five games for the first time since 2003, and some bookmakers rate them an 80-1 title chance this time around.

A fiercely-difficult Paris opener against France is followed by a trip to Rome. Lose both and another barren campaign beckons as Wales’ remaining appointments are with Ireland, Scotland and England.

“We know it is about performances and results. Those first two games are really important for us,” Gatland said.

“That game in Paris will be tough, then it’s the Italy game. It is about momentum.

“You get some good results and you never know what can happen in this tournament.

“Everyone is talking about it being challenging, but for us, we definitely need to show an improvement in performance.

“The autumn was tough because we were playing against teams that had been together for three months and who had campaigns behind them as well.

“We are not looking further than the first two games. We’ve got to go to France, who will be tough and physical and have a huge amount of strength in depth and then the game in Italy is going to be important as well.”

Gatland’s Six Nations squad features two uncapped players in Scarlets wing Ellis Mee and Ospreys fly-half Dan Edwards, but it is arguably more about the players who are not there.

While Gatland has welcomed back experienced trio Liam Williams, Josh Adams and Taulupe Faletau – who have 255 caps between them – injuries have ruled out players like Dewi Lake, Ryan Elias, Adam Beard, Archie Griffin and Mason Grady.

There were also some surprises regarding players who missed the selection cut, with Gareth Anscombe, Cameron Winnett, Max Llewellyn, Rio Dyer and Taine Plumtree heading that contingent.

Wales’ long run of defeats has seen them drop outside the world’s top 10-ranked countries – they are closer on points to nations like Switzerland, Belgium and Hong Kong than leaders South Africa – and the Six Nations represents a major task.

Gatland added: “There has been a fair amount of criticism, which is completely understandable when you are dealing with professional rugby. It is all about performance and results.

“You do question yourself and think about the things you could implement to improve things and make a difference.

“It is also about trying to strike a balance between not making radical changes and finding some tweaks to improve things.

“For me, it’s also about looking back historically and asking why have we been successful in the past?

“It is about making sure you don’t go away from some of the philosophies that have made you successful with teams. You also have to trust your own instincts and experience.”