Wales may have gone down to a ninth successive defeat in the second test against the Wallabies in Melbourne, but Gatland remain s committed to guiding his side out of the current slump and on to much bigger and better things.
“We had a chance to win the game until late on and the frustrating thing for me is how hard we worked for our points and how easily we conceded points. That’s the disappointing thing,” said the Wales head coach after the 36-28 reverse.
“I can’t question the effort and how hard the players have worked, but we were a bit naïve in a few things and not accurate enough. Conceding six points from two kick-offs is frustrating and then a couple soft tries as well.”
What did work very well, though, was the Welsh driving maul. After picking up a penalty try in Sydney in the first test, and almost grabbing a second try when they marched the Wallabies back from 10 metres only to be penalised for obstruction, outstanding skipper Dewi Lake grabbed two tries in Melbourne.
“We played some nice rugby, kept the ball in our hands, and our maul was excellent. It was one of those games where you had to play territory, and if you did you were going to get an opportunity.
“We started well after half-time in terms of not allowing them to put pressure on us. We got back in the game, we had a lineout where, having scored two tries earlier, you’d have thought there was a chance for us to go in front.
“Dewi has been awesome for us and brilliant in terms of how he’s led the boys, not just on the field but off the field it. He’s probably hurting as much as we all are because he’s a winner.
“He’s very, very competitive and I can’t praise this group of players enough at the moment. We’ve got lots of things to learn, but they’ve been a fantastic group.
“They’ve worked really, really hard and we’ve got to learn some tough lessons. Test match rugby is just about being accurate in those big moments and that’s where we need to improve.”
Wales end their summer assignments in Brisbane on Friday night with a game against Queensland Reds. A win in that game would be the perfect tonic for a squad that has been without so many senior players who missed the tour for various reasons.
Will Rowlands, Ryan Elias and Josh Adams all stayed at home to take a break and refresh themselves, Aaron Wainwright was ruled out after a storming first test with a hamstring injury and players like Jac Morgan, Taulupe Faletau, Elliot Dee, Adam Beard, Alex Mann, Henry Thomas, Kieron Assiratti, Joe Thomas and Tomos Williams could all come back into the reckoning for the Autumn Series when Wales host Fiji, Australia and South Africa.
Callum Sheedy and Gareth Anscombe will be both hoping to prove their fitness at their new clubs to join the battle for the No 10 shirt, while French-based Tomos Francis could also become available as another tight head prop option.
“I’m confident this is going to be a good team, and I can see signs out there that we’re in games, we’re pressurising teams and quality opposition players. I hope you can see that as well,” added Gatland.
“We’re just hurting ourselves at the moment. Sometimes not by the pressure the opposition are putting us under, but by some of our turnovers and mistakes which are allowing easy ins to the opposition team.
“We need to fix up those things up and keep working hard to be accurate. That becomes a win, and they become ‘W’s.
“We know where we are, and we’ll continue to keep working hard. It was a forward pack with 112 caps out there today, and they’ll learn from that experience – but you’ve got to learn pretty quickly to be ready to go again in the autumn.”
Gatland may currently be experiencing the other side of the coin in a coaching career with Wales that has already delivered three Grand Slams, two World Cup semi-finals and two quarter-finals, reaching No 1 status in the World Rankings for the one and only time and a record 14 wins in a row.
“The hunger is still there – absolutely! I’m really excited by this group, and I’ve been saying I think they’ve going to be a good team,” said Gatland.
“We’ve said all along and have been clear that we probably need to go through a little bit of pain. We’re in that process of players getting some more experience.
“I don’t know what else you want me to say, but I can promise you, this is going to be a really good team. Our whole planning was to pick a group of youngsters after the experience we lost after the 2023 World Cup and to develop them through to the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
“Having seen how much we can improve as a group, you won’t want us in your World Cup pool in 2027.”
