Pivac could use some of Warren’s mindgames
WARREN Gatland left the Wales job more than a year ago, but many seem to have already forgotten he got his fair share of criticism in his time in charge.
Even Warren – who is now regarded as Welsh rugby’s Christ the Redeemer – had to deal with plenty of flak when the team wasn’t playing well. He stuck to his guns and proved people wrong.
With Wales struggling under Wayne Pivac, there are plenty of fans wishing Warren was still around to be in charge. Wayne is looking to do things very differently to Warren, but I think there are certain similarities to the pair because they have both been criticised for their approach however contrasting they are. Warren led Wales to No.1 in the world.
He won three Six Nations Grand Slams and took the team to two World Cup semi-finals. Even that didn’t stop many people wishing for a different style of rugby.
Now Wayne wants to play in a more expansive way and people want Warren back. Sometimes, you just can’t win! Warren stuck two fingers up to the media and the rest of the doubters. His message when or if the team was struggling was always ‘We can do this and we will turn it around’. More often than not he did that with the help of Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley.
Ultimately, they were rewarded for their belief and strength of conviction.
A sign of a good coach is sticking to their guns under the utmost pressure and Wayne can look at Warren for inspiration in this regard. I know he and Stephen Jones are not for turning.
When we won the Grand Slam in 2008, Warren was in our ear before the first game with England saying ‘If we beat England who are the best team we’ll go on and win it all’.
We thought: ‘Who the hell is this guy?’ We’d just been dumped out of the 2007 World Cup, no one could remember the last time we’d won at Twickenham, and we were a laughing stock. All of a sudden Warren came in and was telling us we were certainly good enough to win the Grand Slam.
He told us we would beat England in the first game. The boys were thinking one of two things – either this guy is crazy or he knows his onions and he really believes in us. Warren was very subtle. He’d be whispering in your ear after lunch that we were going to win the Grand Slam. He used to be very clever with me. He’d tell me I’d had a great game the previous weekend and we could win it all. A huge part of being a good coach are the little subtle things which make players really believe. It makes a hell of a difference because in international rugby it is such a fine line between winning and losing.
I remember when we beat England at Twickenham in 2008. After the game I was looking at the posture and demeanour of the players and I thought to myself, ‘My God, it’s totally different now – we suddenly look like a different team’.
All of a sudden with one win we’d turned the corner. I believe Wayne should be sending the same sorts of messages Warren told us in 2008 to the current squad.
I know how resilient Stephen is from playing with him and Wayne seems the same.
The way Wales want to play the game has been criticised and it would be easy for him to say we’re under pressure and need to change things to play the same way as everyone else.
They haven’t done that and they deserve respect for sticking to their guns. That’s Stephen to a tee and he’s a hard worker. I’m fully behind him.
I’ve spoken to Stephen a number of times. I bumped into him, Wayne and Jonathan Humphreys several times in the Autumn Nations Cup. It’s great to see Gethin Jenkins is now heavily involved in the set-up too. He was a very clever rugby player. Physically he was an absolute phenomenon and I hope his experiences and the way he played the game will rub off on everyone.
It’s been a tough time for Stephen. He told me he does find it difficult because he knew he’d be up against it when he took the job. The coaches swear by the style of rugby they’re trying to play and won’t change. They’re going to stick to the game plan and hopefully they’ll get there sooner rather than later. None of them like losing. Stephen was certainly an awful loser as a player!
They’ll do whatever it takes to be successful, but Wales’ first game is so massive.
The Six Nations is such a short tournament. Before you know it if you’ve lost in round one you don’t have a cat in hell’s chance of winning the Championship.
The first game with Ireland is a must-win game.
It is certainly a game Wales can win. It’s a home fixture back at Principality Stadium, the lads will be chomping at the bit, and there is a little bit of form at the regions with the Ospreys going well.
It’s all about confidence and I have no doubt Wales can beat Ireland.
As soon as you get a result like that, it changes the whole dynamics of the tournament. Suddenly confidence is high and the cobwebs have been blown away.
The Six Nations is like Christmas – even more so in these troubled times. It will be a big ask for Wales to win the tournament because they are behind England and France as well as Ireland. It will take some very good performances to take those teams out, but I’m always optimistic.
I know from my own experiences you can never write Wales off. I can’t wait for it all to get started. It’s going to be a little bit soulless without the fans because they are such an integral part of the Six Nations and any rugby tournament. But we’re still going to have rugby so it’s not all doom and gloom and hopefully we can soon get over this nightmare of the last 12 months.
At the same time I also hope Wales can give some cheer to their fans with a better tournament.
Wayne is going to pick his firstchoice team, as he should do, and I doubt there will be much experimentation with youth.
That is the right way to do things, but I think the approach the coaches take off the field in this tournament will be as important as what they do on the training paddock.
Without belief, you are nowhere as a team.
Warren was the best I’ve ever worked with in giving you the courage of your convictions. If Wayne can get his squad to circle the wagons in a similar way, then Wales might yet cause a surprise. One thing is for sure, Wales always like to be the underdog.
They are a dangerous animal and even more so when underestimated.
“Wales like to be underdog. They are a dangerous animal”