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Wales fans all asking same question after performance against Ireland
By Ian Cameron
The manner of Wales’ defeat to Ireland in their Triple Crown decider in Cardiff under new head coach Matt Sherratt has left many Wales fans pondering what exactly went so badly wrong under Warren Gatland.
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The men in green survived a serious scare on Saturday to secure the Triple Crown with a 27-18 victory over a rejuvenated Wales side – who seem to have refound their fire under a new leadership.
Despite extending their losing run to 15 matches in all competitions, Wales delivered a performance few would have predicted.
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The home team showed a level of intensity and attacking intent rarely witnessed under recently departed head coach Warren Gatland. It’s led to a surge of rhetorical questions on social media from fans wondering what exactly Gatland was doing in his disastrous second tenure.
Ireland opened the scoring through Jack Conan but two Gareth Anscombe penalties and a Jack Morgan try saw them led 13-10 at half-time. The home side eventually pushed a heavily favoured Ireland to their limits before Sam Prendergast’s late penalty kicks put the contest out of reach.
In the aftermath, Welsh supporters on social media expressed both admiration for the team but also a certain frustration at the abrupt turnaround, openly asking how Wales managed to look so much stronger in such a short period.
“What are the many commentators who said pointless removing Gatland saying now?,” posted one fan. “A great past coach of past players. Good selection and three training sessions later, the likely Grand Slam winners have had to work every minute to beat Wales. Now WRU needs to get a grip nationwide.”
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Sherratt oversaw just four training sessions before Saturday’s Six Nations clash. Nevertheless, the Cardiff head coach orchestrated what many rugby fans have described as Wales’s best display since the 2023 World Cup.
“Matt Sherratt has had less than a week with Wales and overseen 4 training sessions and Wales already look so much better than they did for the last year under Warren Gatland,” wrote Jamie Phillips on X. A
Another user stated: “The way Wales are playing just goes to show how much Gatland had lost the dressing room and respect of the players,” while another added: “Wales are playing like a dark cloud has been lifted. What was Warren Gatland doing over the last 16 months?”.
“So, Gatland was the problem then,” declared one fan, while another fan echoed the sentiment: “OK, so Warren Gatland’s weird coaching decisions really were a problem for Wales then…”
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Popular rugby union Youtuber Squidge Rugby argued the showing proved there is no lack of talent in Welsh rugby, a refrain that has become popular in Welsh rugby over the last two seasons: “I would like to ask all those who said Wales didn’t have the players to do any better than they had if they still feel that way.”
The big takeaway is a positive one though: For many Welsh supporters the manner of the defeat offers considerable hope for the rest of the Six Nations campaign and beyond.
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I've been saying Gatland is an overrated coach for a very long time. Biggar said on the rugby pod that Wales used to prefer not to have the ball. Why? Because they were incredibly fit and with a very aggressive defence. Wales’s success has all been built on Shaun Edwards shoulders, Wales recalled the wrong coach and it was abundantly obvious at the time that it was a stupid decision. Presumably a decision made by business people who don't understand rugby. The Lion's tour was a shambles full of rumours of mutiny, then he went to coach the Chiefs in NZ and took an exciting squad to an 0-8 league finish. You had to know nothing about modern rugby to believe the fairytale the WRU were spinning. Gatland has never achieved anything without Shaun Edwards in a tracksuit doing the actual coaching.
England fans are going to be asking the same question/s after Borthwicke gets jettisoned. Ostensibly at some point in 2026. Or, heaven forbid, at the beginning of 2027.
I am absolutely certain that a better quality coach would get better results. The talent is there. The game plan is not.
Picking an actual fly-halve to play at fly-halve was revolutionary!
The problem now for Wales is the WRU get away with decades of mis management again, Gats takes the blame so everything else is ok then ? No, the regions are poor, sometimes shockingly so, we still have more clubs than we need for players available . The Sennedd are still insisting on an EDI approach are willing to sacrifice the only thing left that Wales has to be proud of to achieve that
The regions are on the WRU. The national team is (was) on Gatland.
£600k a year for abject failure. He won’t be missed.
Not do much Gatland but Howley,
Both
Howley probably had a tenner on Gatland leaving.
What us Wales fans really want to know is what was in that alleged report from Portas. We were told by Downturn Abi that the report claimed the best way forward was to back Gatland, not to sack him. What nonsense that has proved to be. So how much did the WRU pay for this Fantasy Island report and please release it in full.
Gatland would not and could not change his style. Look back to RWC 2019 and Lions 2021 - if he had allowed both teams to play rugby against SA, perhaps Wales would have a RWC trophy and the Lions another series win in SA. The signs were there then that his methods were dated. In RWC 2023 he again didn’t let the team play against Argentina. But the WRU just wasted review after review since then and we find ourselves here today!!
What went so wrong under Warren Gatland?
Warren Gatland.
He was stale with the Lions in 2021 already.