GATLAND: IF WALES SLIP BACK I WILL BE BROKEN..
World Cup 3rd/4th place
WARREN GATLAND laid down the gauntlet to his successor Wayne Pivac and warned him – don’t break my heart and take Wales back to the dark ages.
Head coach Gatland (above) ended 12 years of success in charge of the men in red with a 40-17 defeat by New Zealand – the country of his birth – in this World Cup clash for the bronze medal.
Gatland transformed Wales from no-hopers to a side capable of beating the world’s best under the leadership of Alun Wyn Jones (right, with Dillon Lewis).
Now the challenge has been passed on to fellow Kiwi Pivac, who won what was then the Guinness PRO12 with the Scarlets in 2017.
But his only previous international experience is with Fiji.
Gatland said: “After what we’ve achieved in the last 12 years we feel like we’ve put some respect back into Wales as an international team.
“I really hope the new coaches come in and continue to build on that.
“It would break my heart if Wales went back into the doldrums.
“We are such a small playing nation, so we have to really push ourselves hard because we don’t have the same number of players and depth of players.
“There are no complaints about this result. The All Blacks were great and deserved to win.”
Gatland took charge of Wales in 2007 after they had been humiliated at that year’s World Cup.
He has won three Six Nations Grand Slams, and Japan 2019 saw him reach a second World Cup semifinal. He departs Welsh rugby with 69 wins from his 124 Test matches. The only side Gatland didn’t beat with Wales was New Zealand, and no Welsh team has got one over the All Blacks since 1953. That 66 years of hurt never looked like ending at Tokyo Stadium.
Steve Hansen’s side scored six tries – four before half-time through Joe Moody, Beauden Barrett and Ben Smith (2).
Ryan Crotty and Richie Mo’unga added further scores after the break.
Fly-half Mo’unga kicked five conversions as both teams chanced their arm freely in attack.
Wales had their moments even with a host of injury absentees.
They scored tries through Hallam Amos and Josh Adams, but ultimately missed too many tackles to win.
Head coach: Runners-up
Beat Argentina 24-8, Romania 90-8, Namibia 142-0, Ireland 17-16
Beat Scotland 33-16
Beat New Zealand 22-10
Lost to England 17-20 (aet)
Assistant coach: Winners
Beat Samoa 59-7, England 36-0, Tonga 30-25, USA 64-15
Beat Fiji 37-20
Beat Argentina 37-13
Beat England 15-6
Head coach: Eliminated after group stage
Beat South Africa 34-32, Samoa 26-5, USA 28-18, lost to Scotland 10-45
Head coach: In final
Beat Tonga 35-3, USA 45-7, Argentina 39-10
Beat Australia 40-16
Beat New Zealand 19-7 versus South Africa