North adds gloss to Gatland’s gamble
Warren Gatland is clearly cast from the mould of the uncompromising coach of yesteryear and, thus, should really be one of those “second is nowhere” types.
However, the Kiwi seemed extremely happy to witness Wales climbing into the runners-up spot above England and France in the Natwest Six Nations table, courtesy of this all too familiar bonus-point defeat of Italy.
“It’s job done,” Gatland said. “It’s what we wanted. We have our destiny in our own hands next week.”
Well, almost. So long as you dismiss the small fact that Ireland have already decided the “destiny” of the championship and are, really, the only side with everything – a Grand Slam – “in their hands”.
But then Gatland could be excused his hyperbole as there were concerns that his radical selection featured one, two or three experiments too many.
“To make 10 changes, to score the points we did, and to win comfortably was the pleasing aspect,” Gatland said. “At times we looked absolutely outstanding, and at other times we lacked cohesion.”
In truth, apart from sterling contributions from those including George North and Hadleigh Parkes, this was far from scintillating, with rank indiscipline at one stage leaving the home side with 13 players. Credit to Gatland, he was not shy in removing the offenders.
He was clearly incensed by Liam Williams’s transgression just before half-time as he crashed with his elbow into the head of his opposite number Matteo Minozzi over the opposing tryline after the whistle had been called for a Welsh penalty.
The crowd and a few pundits believed the sin-binning to be harsh, but the rules are clear as the Welsh management recognised. In his interview during half-time, Alan Phillips, the Wales team manager, called the tackle “unnecessary” and spoke about the cost to the team. Gatland was not nearly so polite afterwards.
“I thought the yellow card was fair,” he said. “If Liam had to make the tackle, did he need to go that high? He’s an emotional player, but we are disappointed in him.”
The Lions full-back, who had not been playing anywhere near his usual standard anyway, was palpably “emotional” when skulking off in his tracksuit top and at least one former team-mate felt sorry for him.
In the BBC Wales commentary booth, James Hook – who, himself, felt the wrath of Gatland on more than one occasion – expressed his dismay. “I don’t think Liam deserved a yellow, but the management have singled players out before and I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it,” Hook said.
After a decade in charge, however, Gatland is not about to change – not with 18 months left on his contract. Williams will be lucky to keep his place next Saturday, especially as Leigh Halfpenny looked so sharp off the kicking tee when coming on.
“Taking off Liam and Gareth [Davies, who was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on] was a way of sending a subtle message to the rest,” the Wales coach said.
Yes, Gatland does subtle like Italy do Six Nations victories. This was the Azzurri’s 16th Championship successive loss and the nature of the submission left the observer wondering what the Italian happens to be for “Groundhog Day”. Weekend in, weekend out, their coach Conor O’shea is forced to pick out the positives from the negatives, like those with metal detectors locating pennies on a massed heap of scrap. Alas, the only thing O’shea and Italy have found is yet another official wooden spoon.
Granted, the visitors performed with distinction for long periods, monopolising the possessions charts, but ultimately had nothing to show for it, despite valiantly fighting back from a two-try deficit after just seven minutes. With ball in hand, the hosts simply had too much. It is the common trend and the questions are gathering.
“We have held our hands up as a country and said ‘what we haven’t
done’,” O’shea said. “If you go around the clubs, see the under-20s beating Wales, and look at the players coming through, we are building a team and we are building a system piece by piece. I am not here for me – I am here for Italian rugby. We deserve our place.”
That is a debate for another time, but North certainly deserved his place.
The wing had endured a tricky week after his row with Northampton and all that supposed “noshow” business in the Aviva Premiership the previous weekend.
From being absent to being everywhere in seven days. In fact, here North was, touching down in the last minute believing he had notched up a famous “up yours” hat-trick. Except referee Jerome Garces had called back play for a Welsh knock-on. Ho hum, but it was that sort of afternoon. Almost great.
“It’s been a difficult couple of weeks, but it’s been good to be in camp with a real focus,” North said.
“Having this game was a really good thing for me.
“Yeah, Ireland have won the tournament, but we have targeted bonus-point wins in our last two games to give us the best chance of finishing second.”