Wales way ahead with plans for World Cup, says Gatland
Warren Gatland revelled in Wales’s unbeaten summer tour and claimed his team and struggling England are “poles apart” 15 months out from the World Cup.
Eddie Jones, the England head coach, has seen his plans for Japan fall into disarray, his side a mess both on and off the field.
While Jones ponders how to turn things around, all is rosy for Wales after they sealed a first series victory in Argentina since 1999 and jumped above England in the world rankings.
Gatland’s side are now up to the dizzy heights of third spot after a victory over the Pumas made it three straight successes this month.
“The difference between where we are and where England are is poles apart,” Gatland said. “New Zealand are still pretty good, there’s Ireland, and South Africa look like they’re coming good, too. But we’re in a good place and we know when we put out our best side – what that is at the moment I’m not sure – we’re able to compete with the big boys. We’ve really suffocated Argentina in the last two weeks.”
Wales left their big names at home but Gatland’s next generation of players stood up, and while Jones deals with a woeful run of results plus a lack of player confidence and real squad depth, Wales look handily placed.
The Welsh scored through Josh Adams and Hallam Amos, while Rhys Patchell kicked 20 points.
So, what about victory in Japan? “The last two World Cups have shown with the right preparation, we can get a good side together,” Gatland said. “We should have made a semi-final in 2015 – we lost the lead to South Africa with a few minutes to go – and in 2011 we should have reached a World Cup final. If we don’t pick up too many injuries in the next 12 months or so and our planning and preparation goes to plan, then we’ll be in a really good place.”
Even a late red card for Ross Moriarty – the No8 reacted to being held by Nicolas Sanchez and choked the fly-half – failed to take the gloss off the team’s fine trip.
Their summer tour has had its critics, but once again Gatland has had the last laugh. Now his task is to combine a legion of returning players with his summer prodigies.
It is an unenviable assignment. “There have been many times when people have been critical of me or the team and then we’ve ended up on the right side of the ledger,” Gatland said. “This tour achieved all the things I wanted.
“In the past we haven’t had a lot of depth and we’ve spent time just looking for people who can do a job. Now I hope four or five of the loose forwards get injured next year because it’s going to be one hell of a headache trying to narrow that down to five or six based on the way the guys have performed.”