The Gatland Interview...!

Welsh Coach Warren Gatland wrote:

JAMES would have been disappointed with what happened in the World Cup and to be honest we were disappointed with the way he played for an experienced international.

He has come out and said he did not feel quite right during the World Cup.

We know how good he has been in the past and he is a quality player.

Sometimes you have to take things on the chin and say it was not a great World Cup for him and we need to move on.

We will not discard him because we know what a quality player he is.

The unfortunate thing for James is that he has been probably been the most stuffed around player in Wales.

The Ospreys and Wales have moved him around and he is now playing with Perpignan where he has played 10, centre and full-back.

Those things have always been to his detriment.

Welsh Coach Warren Gatland wrote:
WE are mindful of the future and keeping a young team and we will largely stick with the World Cup squad.

Because in the next few years a lot of those players will be in their late 20s.

They will have 60 or 70 caps under their belt and 2015 should be pretty exciting with these players in their prime.

You are not going to compromise the team by leaving experienced players out if you are lacking strength in certain positions.

Some players may not be around in 2015 but you are not going to just discard them

In certain situations, we are not ruling out picking someone like Stephen Jones if the likes of Rhys Priestland or James Hook are unavailable.

Stephen has still made himself available and his selection could be important for the Six Nations squad.

But if everybody else was available, you will lean to guys who are going to be available in the future.

Will Stephen be around at the next World Cup? Probably not.

That is the debate we are looking at now but it is the sort of issue the media normally want to make something of.

Someone like Lee Byrne is also in the picture.

If you look at the back three in Wales over the last few years there has not been a lot of depth. We have been forced to play James at full-back in the past although Leigh Halfpenny did a good job there at the World Cup.

Lee has kept himself in good shape although he has not maybe played his best rugby in the last 18 months and we have been keeping an eye on his form at Clermont.

That can be possibly attributed to his relationship with the Ospreys in terms of them not wanting him to stay or him desiring a move away, whatever the situation was.

Welsh Coach Warren Gatland wrote:
IT is nice to see Gavin back and playing rugby.

Hopefully he will not pick up any more injuries in the next couple of weeks.

We know what a quality player he has been in the past when he is fit and he has recovered from that wrist injury he picked up before the World Cup.

He gives us options not just in the midfield but we know he has played at full-back and he can potentially play at 10 as well.

Welsh Coach Warren Gatland wrote:
BEN came to Wales to make a name for himself in a set-up with four pro teams rather than the 12 clubs in England.

After some stints with Merthyr and the Blues, the Scarlets gave him an opportunity and he has done well, although he still has a bit of work to do on his conditioning.

He decided to declare himself available for England and it is understandable because ultimately he is English.

No.8 is a position we have some depth in at the moment and possibly he would have more opportunities with England to gain some caps, especially after they had such a poor World Cup.

I just hope England don’t cap him and discard him because they have done that a few times over the last couple of years either at sevens level.

All that will do is make them unavailable to someone else.

I have seen it done in the past such as the All Blacks.

We were quite keen for front-rower Aled de Malmanche to come over here because he qualified to Wales through his grandparents.

But he decided to become capped by the All Blacks and was then ignored.

If he had come over here to Wales, I am sure he would have done well and been part of his plans.

He is now playing his club rugby with Stade Francais.

Welsh Coach Warren Gatland wrote:
WE have not decided yet and we will sit down and discuss what our best short-term and long-term options are.

But we have got some options and we have a bit of experience there now.

Sam has done a good job, while we know what a quality captain and leader Matthew Rees is. But we were really impressed with Huw Bennett during the World Cup, although he does not always have that opportunity at the Ospreys.

Welsh Coach Warren Gatland wrote:
THERE has been some controversy about his Scotland selection, but the rules are there.

If you play for Wales Under-20 in certain games against certain nations then you are tying up your eligibility.

We have been impressed by him. Steve played for the under-20s and was down the pecking order at the Scarlets so he decided to go and play for London Irish.

You have to applaud someone when they do something like that when they don’t have other options.

Despite what is best for Wales, I also believe in what is best for the players.

With the financial situation of the Welsh regions and the fact there are only four sides, he is another example of a player who has flourished after not being wanted by a Welsh region.

I went to watch the Blues v London Irish where he unfortunately got sent off.

But I spoke to Mike Catt, who spoke highly of him in the way he has adapted to their style.

Welsh Coach Warren Gatland wrote:
THE problem with professional sport is that it is hard to create a hard and fast rule.

You have different situations with different players and individuals have to realise that.

It is making sure we strike the right balance.

We have stressed we want players to be playing in Wales so they are available and we will continue with that policy.

But it will always depend on who is available and injury situations that will arise at different times.

We have always said if players in Wales have similar form to players who are in France then we are more likely to go for the person who is available.

If exiled players are fighting it out with somebody else and it is a 50/50 call, then someone playing in France will probably miss out because they are missing four or five days in training.

But if you have a player who is significantly better than anyone else in their position but is playing abroad and has less time preparation, you will take a different approach because there is a significant discrepancy in the form of the person next in line at that time.

So even though you want to be consistent, things are not always fair in professional sport.

But that is just the way it is.

On the link with him coaching the Lions in 2013...

I WOULD love to be involved with the Lions again if the opportunity came up.

South Africa was a wonderful rugby experience like no other.

We went back to basics with an old-fashioned philosophy in a professional manner.

It was a privilege to work with coaches and players from other nations and you learn so much.

If I was involved in the same role as I did in South Africa under Ian McGeechan, there would not be a problem because someone else is head coach and in charge.

One of the things the Lions would want from a head coach would be that person available for a certain period of time.

That would mean the coach was not available for the 2013 Six Nations.

It is not just about watching the internationals because you would have to keep in touch with the club games and it is a big job.

Whether I could do that I am not sure and you would have to speak to Roger Lewis.

That would all depend on what was happening with Wales and that role is always going to be my main priority.

But there is still a lot of rugby to be played before any of these decisions are made

Welsh Coach Warren Gatland wrote:
I would not expect any huge surprises, but there will be a chance for some cover at nine as the third scrum-half following the injuries to Tavis Knoyle (pictured).

His replacement will give a chance to another young player.

We are looking to replace a couple of locks with Luke Charteris out of the tournament and Alun Wyn Jones struggling, but we still have Bradley Davies and Ian Evans, with Ryan Jones also offering an option.

We have looked at the Welsh derbies and also monitored players from outside.

I was pleased to see speculation about prop Rhys Gill wanting to return to Wales which would be very good.

I have been keeping any eye on him and I spoke to Mark McCall (Saracens coach) about his performances.

We have a bit of depth in his position, but we are looking at him.

On Six Nations preparations...

WE get the squad together and we will go to a different camp in Poland.

We are going to a different camp in the north rather than Spala.

It is a very similar facility to the one we went through before the World Cup, but just provides a change of venue to freshen things up

A lot of people were well aware of the benefits we had from the Poland trips.

We have heard a lot of comments from people in New Zealand during and after the World Cup, not only complimenting the very good rugby Wales played, but also how fit we were.

So we are going to Poland to top up our fitness and do some solid physical work.

It will also provide a psychological boost before we come back to Wales and finish our preparations here.

We are entitled to have our French and English-based players for the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we are in Poland because under IRB regulations we can request three three-day camps through the year.

We sent out letters to French clubs saying we require the players Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the week before.

So we are entitled to have them for three of the days of the 13 anyway before they go back to their clubs.

So it is not a case of the French clubs granting us access to the players for those three days.

Welsh Coach Warren Gatland wrote:
ENGLAND are always dangerous with the quality of players and depth they have got and don’t forget they are reigning Six Nations champions so they can’t be taken at all lightly.

It is possible to turn things around because Wales won the Grand Slam in 2008 after a poor World Cup, which shows what can be done.

When I came in there was talk of me trying to break players which was really taken out of context a bit.

But England have a lot of off-the-field issues with discipline following the World Cup and their new caretaker coach Stuart Lancaster has spoken about standards he wants to impose.

He can come into the set-up with an iron fist and stamp his mark.

If he can gain that respect of the players and do things his way, he can make the most of his chance.

He has nothing to lose because, if he does well in the Six Nations, he can put forward his claims for being the permanent coach looking further down the line.

Welsh Coach Warren Gatland wrote:
IT is a delicate situation at the moment. The players have performed well at the World Cup so they are more in demand elsewhere outside Wales.

We are living in tough times at the moment and you have got look at every case individually.

Some players have left not because they wanted to but because their region and the rest of the regions did not want them which is not the players fault.

Also for some players who are coming towards the end of the careers or who have two or three left, I am conscious they need to think about personal situations and their family as they look for one last big deal.

For example, with Gethin Jenkins, originally he was not offered anything from the Blues so he has had to see what other options are available for him.

Cymroglan wrote:
Milk.... Warburton was made captain due to Rees being injured so now they need to sit down and decide if Rees get's the captains armband again.

maestegmafia wrote:Looking at another Lock could be interesting, there are a few lads putting their hands up. Some good youngsters around too...

I think the biggest surprise in the Squad might come with the mention of a young player at lock.