Gatland walks out before interview starts
Irked Wales coach Warren Gatland wasn’t happy about being made to wait for a TV interview after his team lost 45-24 to France in their Six Nations match in Cardiff yesterday.
So he walked out.
Later, however, he returned to fulfil his obligations with the BBC - as noted in a social media post by the reporter who originally watched Gatland march away.
Post-game interviews are always tougher for coaches when their team has suffered a defeat, and Gatland made it clear with his body language that he wasn’t thrilled with being made to linger.
When it became clear that he was about to walk away, the reporter and one of her colleagues could be heard telling Gatland that they were about to swing into action.
Gatland, however, wasn’t sticking around.
“You say that all the time,’’ Gatland said as he walked off.
Later BBC reporter Sonja McLaughlan wrote that she had “no issue’’ with Gatland leaving her and her crew hanging.
“Just to make clear. No issue with Warren Gatland post match,’’ she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“We asked for a short delay so we could do the interview live. But Warren had to do S4C before coming back to air his thoughts on the BBC. Always enjoy talking to him and today no different.’’
Still, it created plenty of comment among punters on social media and gave an insight into the pressure Gatland is under as Wales risk being Six Nations wooden spooners for the first time in 21 years.
Wales now meet Italy in the Welsh capital next weekend to decide fifth and sixth place in the 2024 series.
The Welsh haven’t been bottom of the log since 2003 when Gatland’s Kiwi compatriot Steve Hansen was in charge.
Italy – who beat Scotland 31-29 in Rome on Sunday after a 13-13 draw with France – can achieve their highest-ever Six Nations placing.
Gatland did not shy away from the challenge of the wooden spoon encounter when quizzed at his press conference after the France defeat.
“It’s massive for us. But we’ve got to be excited. We’ve got to embrace that challenge. You can’t hide away from it. I’ve never done that. You can’t go into your shell. There’s going to be a lot of external pressure and expectation. International rugby is always about that.
“We’ve got to embrace it, front up and make sure we work hard next week to give a performance at home. There were lots of parts of that game that were reasonably good today. We were in front. We probably capitulated a bit in the last 15 minutes.’’
Gatland – who has suffered a wooden spoon season once before, as Ireland’s Five Nations replacement coach in 1998 – said the best way to confront the challenge was “by embracing it and not hiding away from it”.