"I need to get to the bottom of that" – 5 Talking Points: Warren Gatland and Dewi Lake react to Wales's defeat to Fiji

11/10/2024 02:21 PM

It has been ten games since Wales tasted victory in a Test Match. Fiji, the deserving winners, won their first-ever game in Wales, and a decisive penalty kick from Caleb Muntz secured it. Muntz led the way for the Flying Fijians, scoring 19 of the visitors' 24 points, with Josua Tusiova crossing the whitewash.  

This 24-19 loss adds to the heartache of many Welsh supporters. After a poor Six Nations and Summer Tour, you have to ask the question, where does this leave Warren Gatland?

Gatland and Dewi Lake broke down the brutal defeat in the post-match press conference. Here are the top five talking points from their immediate reaction. 

1: "I need to get to the bottom of that"- Gatland admits there was a miscommunication about the replacement for injured Mason Grady. 

Warren Gatland openly admitted that Cardiff Rugby's Ellis Bevan was meant to come on to the wing in replacement of Grady instead of Sam Costelow, who dropped onto the wing. Gatland also stated he will probably not go for a 6-2 split on the bench again. 

"Other teams get away with it, and we have a 6:2 split, and we talked about one position where we potentially were a little bit exposed, could be on the wing, and we lose Mason pretty early in the game," said Gatland.

"So it was a little bit tough for us and difficult for Sam to have to go on there and cover us for quite a big length of the game.

"Ellis (Bevan) was supposed to go on. I need to get to the bottom of that. So we were talking and said we're going to put Ellis on, and then Sam's (Costelow) run on the field. So, I just think he may have assumed that he was the person going on. We'd already had those discussions with Ellis. If we do lose a winger, you are going to need to cover us."

2: Mason Grady injury update after the winger was replaced on 22 minutes 

One of the main takeaways from the post-match press conference was about the person who entered the field of play after Grady went off. Grady will be a massive loss for Wales if not able to continue this Autumn and Gatland gave us an immediate update on the injury.

"He's got an ankle injury at the moment, and I'm not too sure how bad it is. It will probably need to be scanned tomorrow," added Gatland. 

3: The first 20-minute Red Card of the Autumn Nation Series

Semi Radradra made direct head contact with one of Wales's standout players, Cam Winnett, with referee Luc Ramos sending the winger off for an off-field review. Then, after Caleb Muntz scored the visitors' first try of the afternoon, both captains (Tevita Ikanivere and Dewi Lake) were called to the middle of the pitch, and after further inspection, the yellow was upgraded to a 20-minute red card.    

Gatland added: "I'm in favour if it's seen to be deemed as not being reckless or deliberate but the only thing I can say about that is that there's no arms used in there. He's gone with the shoulder, and it's been head-to-head contact. So that's where they need to make the decision on. Was it if he's going to wrap his arms and I think if you do that and you catch someone higher, you can see how it can be a 20-minute red card.

"But they've got to deem whether it's foul play of a certain standard. So look, I think it keeps the game alive, and it's probably given Fiji an opportunity to get back in the game. I don't see that as being bad for the game."

4: A positive opening 20 minutes for Wales but "discipline cost us in the end"- said Lake 

After 20 minutes, Wales found themselves 14-3 up, with Blair Murray crossing over and referee Ramos awarding the hosts a penalty try after Elia Canakaivata deliberately brought down a driving maul. This was also despite being down to 14-men after Tommy Reffell made a dangerous clearance at the breakdown on Semi Radradra. Still, after that 20 minutes, it seemed the same old Wales again, easily giving away possession as they scored again on 65 minutes through Ellis Bevan and that was all from Gatland's men.

Dewi Lake said: "Yeah, obviously frustration, disappointing. 

"As Gatt's said, there's a lot of opportunities out there for us. Disallowed try in the first half, you know, a couple of forward passes when we're over the line in the second.

"But it was probably just discipline. Discipline cost us in the end. You know we talk about being under ten penalties or at least winning the battle of the penalty count, and we didn't do that today.

Gatland added: "Yeah, absolutely. I think with the things that we were trying to do, we were trying to mix it up, like I said. 

"We talked about wanting to move their big forwards around and look to take their legs off them. I think we're getting some success from our drive, and then we got some nice success out of some of the attacking shapes that we've been looking to play from, and we created some space and scored that first try and a couple of other occasions with the Tommy Reffell yellow card.

"Again, sort of we've created opportunities. So for me there's a number of positives and I've just spoken in the changing rooms to them. 

"We should be disappointed, but the boys have worked hard in the last couple of weeks and we've got to get back on the horse on Tuesday and tidy up some of the things that are going to help improve us."

5: Is time on the clock running out of time for Warren Gatland as Wales head coach

This was a game that Wales had to win and they fell short, and with Australia beating England on Saturday a winless 2024 is looking very likely for Warren Gatland's Wales who sit outside the top 10 in World Rugby. 

Gatland straight to the point on whether his time in Wales is up, stated: "Well, you can write about that. 

"So the pressure doesn't come from us it comes externally. It comes basically from the media because that's a narrative that you create.

"And that's okay from where I sit. I honestly believe, and we've said for the last 12 months since the World Cup, in terms of the number of players and the experience that we've lost since the World Cup, that we were going to invest in a group of youngsters that we felt that we could build with and take us on.

"We've seen a lot of development from those youngsters, and we've said that we need a little bit of patience, a bit of time. But I understand that test match rugby is about performing. So you control the narrative and write what you want, and then I'll see what happens there," Gatland concluded.

The post "I need to get to the bottom of that" – 5 Talking Points: Warren Gatland and Dewi Lake react to Wales's defeat to Fiji appeared first on Ruck.