Warren Gatland has challenged his players to put down a marker against the world champions this weekend and has revealed they have their eye on a couple of Welsh-qualified Kiwis.
Wales have been dealt a blow with influential backrower Jac Morgan ruled out of this weekend’s Test against the Springboks at Twickenham, along with the tour of Australia with a hamstring injury. Gatland’s decision to start uncapped Cardiff scrum-half Ellis Bevan will have raised a few eyebrows but the New Zealander insists he needs to build some depth at scrum-half.
The 24-year-old is one of three Exiles in the squad, along with Taine Plumtree and Henry Thomas. Gatland believes the Exiles system is a valuable tool and has revealed they have been recommended a couple of quality Super Rugby players with Welsh ancestry.
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Very few are giving Wales any hope of upsetting a strong South Africa side and Gatland believes it will be a test of their resilience and mental toughness. Here is every word Gatland said as he held court with the media.
Q: Losing Jac Morgan is a big blow for yourselves and himself given how good he was at the World Cup?
“He’s pretty gutted. He had a tight hamstring when he played against Munster. He felt it being a bit tight there so we’ve just been looking after him.
“Unfortunately yesterday he felt it being really tight so we just got him scanned and he’s been ruled out. He’s very disappointed but it gives him an opportunity to get a good pre-season in, have a rest and start thinking about later on in the year.”
Q: With Dewi Lake captaining the side this Saturday with Dafydd Jenkins unavailable, have you made a final decision on who will captain the side in Australia?
“No, I haven’t. It’ll be done after the game.”
Q: In terms of injuries how are you looking elsewhere?
“We’ve got a couple of niggles with guys who have come in and have been rehabbing during this period. We’ve got a couple of players on selection who we think are going to be fit but haven’t taken a full part of training in the early part of this week.
“So, we are just giving them a little bit extra time to make sure they can get on the plane next week.”
Q: Is Ben Thomas one, because Jacob Beetham is on the bench covering multiple positions?
“Ben is OK. He just hasn’t taken a full part in training at the beginning of this week.
“We want to make sure he’s fine. In terms of training he’s been training really well and we’ve been pleased with him.
“Some of those young players in the squad have just been getting used to handling the volume and the expectation of the amount of work we require from them. He’s just working his way through that at the moment but he’s fine.
“We’ve been really happy with him.”
Q: What are your thoughts going into this game with so many players unavailable?
“I see it as a great opportunity for other players to step up and put their hands up. We’ve got a number of players who are unavailable to us because of the rules of PRL which we knew that.
“There’s an opportunity for others to say they are ready for that chance. They get the first opportunity to put a marker down for the first game and the rest of the tour.”
Q: What can we expect from Ellis Bevan?
“He’s impressed us in training. He’s got a left foot which gives us a different kicking option.
“In terms of coming into this environment, it’s the way he has worked, the extras he’s done after training, he’s got a good voice and he’s been really positive about taking feedback from the coaches.
“We know a little bit about the other nines but just though this is a great opportunity for him to get a cap under his belt. We see a huge amount of growth in him and we wanted to find out about someone else in that position to give us some more depth.”
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Q: What about the new laws?
“We do have them for this game.”
Q: Will it make any difference?
“No, not really. We had to do a little bit on the kick-chase stuff.
“Guys have got to make sure they are retreating or put back onside. That’s how the old law was anyway. It’s just getting used to that and the other one is the free kick one from scrums. It’ll be interesting to see how they are applied.
“There’s not a huge amount of difference. We’ve spoken about the changes and to expect that.”
Q: Ellis Bevan and Taine Plumtree are Exiles. The exiles programme looks to be bearing a bit of fruit?
“The more the merrier. It’s challenging at the moment given that you look at, and next year’s going to be even higher, the amount of non-Welsh-qualified players we have in our regions.
“Everyone talks about potentially going down to three regions but when I look at the number of players who aren’t qualified to be selected for Wales we’ve only really got three regions in terms of the numbers to select a national team from.
“We are lacking some depth in certain positions and real competition. That’s a big challenge for us.
“But there’s players in terms of that exiles programme. There’s a number of others out there that potentially the regions may make contact with, or we’ll make contact to give us the opportunity to develop or have the chance of selecting more Welsh-qualified players.”
Q: Who is leading on that?
“There’s a little bit of both in terms of the exiles stuff. We try to keep our finger close to the pulse in terms of doing that.
“We’ve had some players in New Zealand who have been playing Super Rugby with Welsh qualifications who have played for Wales, who have told us about one or two. So, they’ve passed that information on to us.
“We’ve kind of then spoken to and let the clubs know these players are potentially Welsh-qualified. It’s up to them from there.”
Q: But it’s another route and another avenue to hopefully get some more quality?
“The thing is we probably haven’t been the most proactive in terms of that in the past. Scotland are very very proactive.
“They’ve got someone within their coaching or analysis set-up who does an outstanding job in terms of the players that they’ve identified and targeted with Scottish qualifications. There’s definitely a balance isn’t there.
“You’ve got to find that balance between developing from within and through your pathways and academies and rewarding that but also not excluding players from outside of Wales who have genuine ancestry and want to represent Wales.”
Q: Can this team gain respect from the Springboks?
“We are not very experienced in terms of the number of caps and guys on the bench. There’s a great opportunity for this team to go out and perform.
“We’ve been training and working really hard. I look back at the game against us in the World Cup warm-up. I know there was a blow up in the score but it was 12-9 just before half-time but I think we acquitted ourselves very well.
“The referee gave a penalty try which I don’t think was a penalty try. That got awarded then they score from the kick-off and it’s a bit of a blow out.
“Up until then I was happy with that first 30-odd minutes in terms of that performance. It’ll be dependent on how they play whether they move the ball.
“If I look at what they’ve tended to do in their big games and it’s how they approached.. if you look at the amount of kicks on the weekend between the Bulls and Leinster. There were over 40 kicks per team.
“In terms of South Africa in the World Cup they could have potentially lost to England and if you look at the kicking stuff England kicked it over 40 times and I think South Africa kicked it 27 times.
“But in the last game they dominated the kicking battle. We’ve just got to be really smart and be prepared to handle what approach they take with the kicking strategy and go to the air and the handling.
“For us we’ve got to be smart with our game management as well. We’ve spoken about that as a group and making sure we stay in the fight and the battle.
“When there is a chance for us to shift the ball and attack we need to be prepared to go but we’ve got to make sure that we don’t try to force that and end up putting ourselves under pressure and having to get out of our 22. That was something that we were guilty of in the Six Nations.
“We had 11 turnovers in our 22 compared to the World Cup where we had one. That put us under a huge amount of pressure trying to deal with that.
“We have spoken about that so hopefully there will be that focus on our game management.”
Q: Qatar are sponsoring the game on Saturday and there’s a good chance you could be playing there in a few years’ time. What’s your thoughts on external investment in rugby?
“If there is a chance to look at external investment, it is widely done in football so I don’t see any difference or reason why rugby should not be looking at different opportunities.
“It has been done in golf as well. There has been a huge amount of strain, not just in Wales, but everywhere within the game in rugby in the last few years. Post-Covid and the impact that has had.
“I definitely think there has been a reset but having that investment externally could be a positive in terms of maybe growing the game globally as well.”
Q: It’s brought success to other sports?
“Absolutely. They have been able to have that opportunity to have access to other streams of revenue they might not have been able to be readily available and other strings with vast resources as well, looking to expand their interests.
“As long as we are smart in terms of how we approach that and there is an opportunity and grow the game, invest and put the money back into the game.”
Q: Do you need these games against South Africa to show young players the level required as soon as possible in World Cup cycle?
“Yes, definitely. I don’t see it any different to when I arrived in 2008 and asked by Roger Lewis who do you want to play I said any time we can play a southern hemisphere team we need to jump at that chance.
“That is the way you improve. Not just in rugby but any sport by playing against the best. That is the biggest part of the development.
“When we had the trial in 2014 between the Probables and Possibles at Swansea. The Probables won that game comfortably and there was a lot of games in the Possibles asking was this what Test match rugby was all about.
“The guys said no, there is another level above this. They need to experience that. You try and replicate what you can do training as best as you possibly can but you want them coming off the field, learning and enjoying it but also wanting more of it.
“I look back at my own experience as a young player coming through and playing against Auckland who were one of the best teams in the world and full of All Blacks. As a young Waikato player they put 40 points on us and the pace and intensity of the game.
“I came away saying I want to play against that next week. The amount I learned as a player was part of my growth and development.
“It is part of the challenge. If you start doubting yourself you have to be able to overcome those sorts of challenges.
“Test match rugby is tough and physical, you have got to be able to handle adversity. It is probably not the political correct (PC) thing at the moment in today’s society but you have to be mentally tough.
“You have to go through that pain sometimes and be able to come out the other side. There is nothing wrong with that. You have to be brave and overcome your fear factor.
“You are going out there and playing against big men and it’s going to hurt and you have to go through some pain. There are lots of things about playing at the top level. It’s tough and there are going to be lots of different emotions and things to challenge yourself on.
“If you get through that and come out the other side what ends up happening after that in terms of your personal development. We have some individuals in the side who love that challenge and thrive on it like Dewi Lake and Dafydd Jenkins.
“They won’t walk away from a challenge they run towards it and see it as something they thrive on in terms of meeting it head on and vital for their growth and development.”
Q: What are your thoughts on Matthew Screech? What is he going to bring?
“He has been great. He has got a bit older and looks physically in good shape.
“He has done a good job in the set-piece. I have spoken to the two second rows in terms of the expectations.
“They know how physically the game will be and that’s part of the role for the weekend in terms of embracing the physical challenge that’s going to come their way. If they do that and focus on the set-piece that’s all I can ask for.
“There is a big chance for them to show us where they are at. Matthew has come into us on a couple of occasions and we have been impressed by the way he has trained.
“He has been around for a while, he has had that experience and if I was him I would be thinking about going out the weekend and making a bit of a statement in terms of preparing the way I play and hopefully I can be around this squad for the next couple of years.
“31 is not old for a tight forward. I look at it as a good age and players think I will still be young enough and fit enough for the next World Cup.
“I hope it’s part of his motivation to go out there, put his hands up and play well.”
Q: Have you ever made contact with South African No 8 Cameron Hanekom who is Welsh-qualified?
“There were some conversations through his agents. It was understandable given where he has come through their 20s programmes and was highly rated. There was no need to have to commit to anybody else when he was in the pathway and I fully understand that.
“He would have been one of the ones given the chance to get our hands on but that’s not something you push too hard on when you have those conversations with somebody. He is going to sit tight at the moment, he has come through that programme, been successful and making a name for himself.
“He was on a pretty long-term contract with the Bulls anyway in terms of seeing where he goes. I thought he was good on the weekend.”