Gatland’s quit offer rejected
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WARREN GATLAND offered his resignation in the dressing room after Wales’ damaging home loss to Italy.
The head coach spoke with WRU chief Abi Tierney after the defeat and told her that he was ready to step down with his Red Dragons having lost all of their Six Nations games to collect their first Wooden Spoon for 21 years.
Only two late tries prevented total embarrassment against an Italy side which, in contrast, celebrated their best ever Six Nations, with two wins and a draw.
Gatland said: “I have agreed to take the job through to 2027 and that’s what I intend to do.
“I’ve just said to Abi Tierney if you want me to resign I will do. But she said, ‘No, that’s the last thing we want right now’.
“We have to go away and review what went wrong. We need to win and get back some confidence and self-belief.
“We are gutted and hurting. I know the fans are as well. But I see light at the end of the tunnel.
“We have a fantastic group of guys who have worked hard, but it is a huge challenge for everyone. I am still excited about what this bunch of players can achieve.
“Italy were excellent but probably helped by us giving them some soft turnovers and not getting any go forward. This was a tough experience but the players will learn from it.”
It was a sad farewell appearance in the red jersey for the retiring George North, as Paolo Garbisi’s early penalties and tries from Monty Ioane and Lorenzo Pani left Wales trailing 18-0.
Hooker Elliot Dee raised hopes of a revival with a try, replacement Will Rowlands crashed over for another before Mason Grady grabbed a third – but the closeness of the final scoreline flattered Gatland’s side.