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Why Warren Gatland believes England didn't do 'their homework'

By PA
Warren Gatland (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Wales boss Warren Gatland believes England might have preferred a closed Principality Stadium roof for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations encounter had they “done their homework”.

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England want the roof open, and while Wales have normally preferred it closed to help keep crowd noise in, Six Nations rules dictate both teams must agree on a closed roof for that to happen.

Wales exclusively make the roof call for autumn international fixtures and other games, but not in the Six Nations, so it will be open this weekend.

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“I don’t think the roof is going to make a huge amount of difference,” Wales head coach Gatland said. “Obviously, they do.

“If they had looked at the percentage when it is open to when it is closed, they would probably have decided to close it.

“The ironic thing is that when you look at the numbers, we have a better win record than when it’s closed. I don’t know if they have done their homework on that.”

The game was only given a green light after the threat of a Wales players’ strike was averted less than 72 hours before kick-off.

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Off-field issues have dominated the build-up, although a compromise has now been reached between players and Welsh rugby powerbrokers on issues like the 60-cap selection rule for players plying their trade outside Wales and fixed-variable contracts across the regional game.

Gatland added: “I think it has been challenging for everyone. When players are having meetings and it’s only them involved and you’re not quite sure of their demands which are being made, everything comes to a head.

“I think at the end of it they are pretty happy with the outcome and what is going to happen moving forwards.

“There are still players who would have wanted the 60-cap rule to have gone away completely, but it is like anything with any negotiation, there is always some middle ground and some compromise.”

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Wales lost their first two Six Nations games – 34-10 against Ireland and 35-7 to Scotland – and Gatland was asked whether off-field uncertainty had affected performances on the pitch.

“Now that I reflect back on it and look back on the first period I was here (from 2008 to 2019), a lot of these issues were going on, but the fact we had been reasonably successful as a national side probably papered over the cracks a little bit,” he added.

“It was stopping the dam from bursting. The dam has burst now. It has burst because the regions feel they are under-funded and haven’t got the success the players want.

“Winning and success often hides away some of the issues that are going on behind the scenes.

“I think we owe it to ourselves to give a performance (on Saturday). There is a lot of work for us to continue to do.

“There are a lot of things we need to fix ourselves, rather than looking at our opposition. You can’t give away 16 penalties in the first game and 19 in the second and think you are going to win an international.

“Fixing a few of our issues will definitely go a long way to improving our performance.

“I look back on 2019 (Wales beat England 21-13 in a Grand Slam season), and we gave away four penalties and England had four lineouts. That is all we gave them.

“That is the gold standard you want to be operating in to shut an opposition down.”

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J
Jon 40 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

32 Go to comments
j
john 3 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 8 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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