"Huge amount of motivation" – Warren Gatland: Wales head coach believes Lions places will elevate his team for 2025 Six Nations

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Wales head coach Warren Gatland has named his first match day squad for the 2025 Men’s Guinness Six Nations, with France up first in Friday night’s curtain raiser. Wales head to Paris as considerable underdogs, but Gatland’s squad has been boosted with a trio of returning players, with Liam Williams, Josh Adams and former captain Dafydd Jenkins all back in the mix.

“It’s important for everyone, the first match, because you win the first match and then you’re still in contention for a grand slam.” Gatland said. “For us, it’s we’ve got the first game in Paris against France, obviously, second game in Rome. So first two games are very important for us away from home, but that first game for every team is incredibly important.”

Find your local Greene King and settle in for the 2025 Six Nations!

As a former British & Irish Lions head coach, Gatland knows all too well about how the Wales shirt is not the only red jersey that his players are gunning for throughout the Six Nations. Gatland recognised that his top players will already have a spot in Andy Farrell’s side in the back of their minds, as the Lions jet down under to Australia for this Summer’s tour.

“The (Lions) coaches would have been settled by now, but in terms of, who’s going to be involved, definitely the players are incredibly well aware of how important the Six Nations is. Because if you have a good Six Nations that you individually play well or your team plays well, then you’ve got a good chance of being on contention for the Lions.

“We know how important and what a great tournament the Six Nations is, but the Lions can be a once of a lifetime opportunity that you tour away from home. The old traditional tours, we’re playing twice a week, three tests and the midweek matches as well. So it’s something that’s incredibly special. It’s an unbelievable experience to be part of. So definitely, it’s going to be a huge amount of motivation for players, not just for Wales, but for the teams involved in the Six Nations.”

Gatland stepped down from the mantle of British & Irish Lions coach last year, with Ireland head coach Andy Farrell appointed to the role. Farrell will now not be involved with Ireland’s Six Nations campaign, as the former England international has left the reins to his assistant coach Simon Easterby on an interim basis. Gatland explained what Farrell’s next couple of months will look like, as he prepares to piece together his touring squad for the Summer.

“So, Andy Farrell, he’s not involved (with Ireland) this time, and he decided to stay involved in the (2024) Autumn. I left the Autumn as well, because you want to distance yourself a little bit, because you’ve got to have involvement with the other nations. We seem to be as neutral as you possibly can, because you’re lucky enough to go and watch a couple of training sessions, you’re having conversations with other coaches on a regular basis as well.

“So, you’ve got to try and be as neutral as you possibly can to build that trust and understanding of the coaches and having conversations about players as well. So, that’s probably why he just went away now and I’m sure that over the next few months, there’ll be a few conversations with him about players and what he’s saying and asking us questions as well.”

Gatland is pleased to have an assortment of his senior players back in the squad, in the hopes that his team goes better than their winless 2024 calendar year. With Adams, Williams and Jenkins all back fit and firing for the first round of the tournament, the Wales head coach is optimisitic that the senior players will have a knock on effect and elevate the preparation of his squad, with the odds against them for the opening round in Paris.

“I just, I think for them, it’s the example they they bring, in terms of the way that they prepare, the way they train, that’s what international rugby is all about. It’s all about in terms of the time they spend, even on the computers, watching training, making sure they know their roles, their rehab, pre-hab, recovery. So, there’s a huge amount that goes into preparation for an international team or an international match.

“It’s not just about turning up and putting your boots on and going out on the training pitch. It’s all those little bits and pieces and sitting down with players and perhaps going through a game or going through training and talking to players. So those guys definitely have a role to do with that.

“Even someone like Dafydd Jenkins, even though he’s young, he’s an outstanding professional in the way that he prepares as well. So having that experience and those guys come back, I think it’s going to be hugely positive for us, and then hopefully we’re seeing some of the development of our youngsters in terms of the time they’ve had together, and we’ll see some improving performances.”

Focusing in on the Exeter Chiefs man, Gatland has been blown away by Jenkins’ return to the Wales squad despite missing out on the captaincy. Gatland has opted for Ospreys back row Jac Morgan to take up the armband for his side, yet that is by no means a hindrance upon Jenkins, whom Gatland has nothing but respect for.

“I’ve got a huge amount of respect for him as a young man. He’s definitely a player with that tenacity to want to do the things right and be the best possible player that he can be. He’s going to go a huge way in terms of himself in a rugby career. He makes a difference to us in terms of that attitude and want to win, and the physicality that he brings to every game.”

Whilst Gatland is happy to have his big hitters back in the camp, he is also keen to see how his younger players react and respond to the influx of stars around the training environment. The likes of Morgan, Aaron Wainwright, Rio Dyer, Taine Basham and Christ Tshuinza are among an ever-developing core group of talented young players, that Gatland backs to maintain an upward trajectory with added experience.

“I think they’ve just got to continue to grow.” Gatland said, about his more inexperienced players. “They’ve just got to continue to some of them have kind of been thrust a little bit into leadership roles that might have been a year or two earlier, because you’ve lost all that experience, and then it’s how they handle that sort of pressure in terms of that.

“But then sometimes you’ve just got to put that behind you and step up and take the mantle in terms of what’s expected of you as a player. That’s about having accountability, and doing that. So there’s a young group that have come through, and now the expectation from us is for them to perform, and hopefully, with the experience of players like Josh Adams and Liam Williams coming back, it’s going to hopefully have some sort of impact in terms of performances in the Six Nations.”

One fixture that Wales will have their eye on securing the win from, is their second round match against Italy in Rome. Gatland’s side succumbed to defeat to the Azzurri last time around, with the Italians enjoying a 24-21 away win in Cardiff. Whilst Gatland would never label the incoming Test as a shot at ‘revenge’, the Wales coach expressed his admiration on how Gonzalo Quesada has elevated the side, with the Argentinian added a customary dose of ‘Latin flair’.

“You never talk about revenge. You never, you never. You take your defense on the chin, you’ve just got to look personally about improving your performances. So the positive thing about Italy is they’ve definitely been improving over the years.

“I think what they’ve done with their pathway and their under 20s program and the players coming out through that, particularly a team like Benetton, and how much they’ve improved in the URC. I think it’s been credit to Italian rugby for the way they’ve organized things. So definitely that’s had an impact on way the Italian team has performed in the last few years, and now we have a tough encounter and one we’re looking forward to.”

“A little bit Latin flair in terms of their passion as well. The thing about him (Gonzalo Quesada) is that he’s had experience around the world, and in terms of playing in France and obviously in Argentina growing up. He’s obviously an intelligent person in terms of his language, as he’s connected with the Italian players in terms of trying to bring that out on them, in terms of the desire to put that jersey on and represent its with a real desire to want to win and play with that sort of passion that’s required.

“He’s achieving that. So some of the foundations were laid by Kieran Crowley, and he’s built on that and brought that forward. So, that’s really good for the team and for the Six Nations as well.”

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