Gatland back with Wales?
Warren Gatland may be in line for a second stint as coach of Wales – replacing a fellow New Zealander.
Wayne Pivac’s job looks tenuous ahead of next year’s World Cup after his troops fell apart late in a 39-34 loss to Australia in Cardiff yesterday – a week after being stunned at home by Georgia.
Should the Wales Rugby Union decide to sack Pivac after its review into their woeful autumn campaign, former coach Gatland is tipped as a leading replacement option.
The BBC reported Gatland could be in line for an interim role until the World
Cup in France, while they also mentioned New Zealand coaches Scott Robertson and Brad Mooar as others in consideration.
Gatland coached Wales for 12 years with notable success, leading them to two World Cup semifinal appearances and four Six Nations crowns before leaving in 2019.
The former Waikato hooker is contracted to coach the Chiefs in next year’s Super Rugby competition.
While commentating on the clash between Wales and Australia, Gatland said he hadn’t received any contact from the WRU about any possible role.
The makeshift Wallabies have ended their spring tour on an incredible high with an epic 39-34 comeback win over the Wales in Cardiff.
Wing Mark Nawaqanitawase and replacement hooker Lachlan Lonergan were the heroes as Australia fought back from 21 points down with 27 minutes remaining to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at the Principality Stadium.
Nawaqanitawase bagged a second-half double and also played a key role in the lead-up to Lonergan’s match-winning try, two minutes from fulltime, as the Wallabies recovered from 34-13 down.
Adding to the drama, the Wallabies lost skipper James Slipper to a head knock in the first half, with replacement prop Sam Talakai becoming the 51st player used by embattled coach Dave Rennie in a rollercoaster 2022.
The improbable victory relieved pressure on Rennie, who had been staring down the barrel of presiding over Australia’s worst win-loss record in a calendar year since 1958 following a hat-trick of narrow tour defeats to France, Italy and Ireland.
Instead, it was Wales coach Wayne Pivac who ended the match trying to save his job.
‘‘Pretty stoked,’’ Lonergan said.
‘‘We were in the trenches there in the first half. At the start of the game, all we wanted to do was get a result and do whatever we had to do to do that.
‘‘At halftime we came together and said ‘we need to get a result’. Obviously our captain went down with that head knock. So as a team, we said we had to do it for him, our country, do it for Australia.’’
With nine players, including big guns Michael Hooper and Taniela Tupou, ruled out of the tour injured, Rennie only had 25 players to choose from for his match-day 23.
And with Slipper gone and his side falling more than 20 points behind after two converted tries to Wales early in the second half, the Wallabies looked dead and buried.
But Nawaqanitawase sparked the comeback with tries in the 57th and 67th minutes before another inspired burst set up Lonergan’s game-breaker at the death.
Nawaqanitawase’s heroics came after he started the Super Rugby season on the bench for the Waratahs. He then fielded a phone call from Rennie while on holiday in New Zealand last month to return home to Sydney to make his Wallabies debut in the seasonending tour.
‘‘I guess that’s life,’’ said the humble 22-year-old.
‘‘Things go up and down sometimes, but I’m grateful for where I am at the moment and I couldn’t score those tries without the boys.’’
Australia’s great Houdini act was also a psychological boost ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in France, where they will face Wales in the pool stages.
‘‘As you can see by the other games, we’ve only lost by a point to the top teams so don’t lose faith in us,’’ Nawaqanitawase said.
‘‘We’ve got a strong team here. We back ourselves so hopefully everyone else backs us as well.’’