Dewi Lake’s side had the final word in the 45-12 defeat in their final game of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series when James Botham capped a strong all-round performance with a try at the posts. At the end of the first half Rio Dyer raced over for the first try for the home side.
“It was a tough game, a really tough game. I can’t question how hard our players tried out there – they gave absolutely everything,” said Gatland.
“They’ll learn massively from that game and hopefully be better for that the next time and the time after that. What the players put in, people should be really proud of that.
“We’re disappointed and I’m not contented with the result, but I can’t question how hard the players tried. There need to be learnings that go with that.
“We know how clinical the world champions are and the power they can bring. That puts you under some pressure.
“For us, going away from this campaign, a few players are aware that there is some work to do from a conditioning perspective so they are in better shape when we come back for the next campaign.”
The next campaign will be the annual Guinness Six Nations, with Wales kicking off in Paris against the French on Friday 31 January. They then travel to Rome to face the Italians on Saturday 1 February in Round 2.
The first home assignment will be against Ireland at Principality Stadium on 22 February (limited tickets are still available here )followed by a trip to Edinburgh to face the Scots at Murrayfield on 8 March. The championship reaches a climax in Cardiff on 15 March when England come to the Welsh capital.
“The last couple of weeks have been challenging in terms of the negativity, but I’m motivated to want to be here and we’ve got a good group of men who are only going to get better,” added Gatland.
“For a long time we’ve had issues within the game and the success we’ve had in the past has papered over the cracks. It is going to take a lot to fix it and get back on track.
“It’s whether people give you time and have the patience to do that. What I saw today gave me a lot of positive hope that we can improve and get better.
“The WRU have been brilliant in terms of the plan they’ve put in place. I personally needed to see a shift today from that group of players and I couldn’t have asked for any more about how hard they tried.
“That was what I was looking for against an absolute quality team. That score could have completely blown out and players stopped trying but they kept going for the 80 minutes.
“We just need to ensure we put a really positive plan in place building towards the Six Nations. We punched massively above our weight for a number of the years.
“We’ve been saying that when the dam bursts it’s going to take a little bit of time to put things right – and the dam has burst. It’s making sure that collectively we work together with the regions to get in better shape from a conditioning point of view.
“That’s a real work-on for some of the players over the next couple of months, so that when they turn up for the Six Nations they have put in the work and are ready to go from day one.”
