Gatland not making decisions to protect himself

Wales head coach Warren Gatland says decisions surrounding his autumn squad selection will be based on what is "best for the future of Welsh rugby" and not about "protecting his own position".

Wales have endured a disappointing run since making the quarter-finals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

They finished winless at the bottom of the 2024 Six Nations table before losing their summer series against Australia.

Only a friendly win against Queensland Reds halted a run of nine straight defeats.

Now Wales have a clean slate heading into a new international season, with November Tests lined up against Fiji, Australia and world champions South Africa.

“It has been an incredibly challenging year and I’m the first to put my hand up and recognise that, but I’m excited about the challenges ahead,” said Gatland.

“I promise you we’re going to work incredibly hard as a group and hopefully we can show some development as a squad in the autumn campaign. That’s important."

Gatland and his coaching group have been in regular attendance at United Rugby Championship (URC) games involving the Welsh regions and has been impressed by what he has seen.

“As a coaching group we’ve identified a number of young players who are outstanding prospects for Wales in the future and who are incredibly talented. We’ve gone down that road and we want to spend more time with developing these players," he said.

“After watching the first few rounds of regional rugby I’ve been impressed by the performances of a number of players, particularly some of the younger ones we’ve had in the squad."

Gatland is due to announce his squad for the autumn internationals on Monday.

"I’m taking decisions that I think are the best for the future of Welsh rugby. It’s not about making decisions that try to protect my own position," he said.

“It’s not about thinking ‘I’m under some pressure, should I pick an older or more experienced player who can potentially do a job for a short period over a younger player that we see has got a huge amount of potential’.

“Those are tough decisions to make but it’s about having the confidence and self-belief that you’re making the best decisions for Welsh rugby. It’s probably an unusual position for me to be in where you’re under that pressure, but I’m excited about the challenge.

“I’m well aware that international rugby is about performance and about results and that’s just a fact we have to deal with. With that comes expectation and external pressure – but that’s what drives me and gives me the motivation to get out there and work these players hard to hopefully get some results in the autumn.”

Wales will be without several key players for the autumn, with Cardiff pair Josh Adams and Taulupe Faletau both expected to miss all three Tests.

Exeter lock Dafydd Jenkins and Dragons hooker Elliot Dee also miss out through injury, while Dragons number eight Aaron Wainwright is in a race to be fit after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies is unavailable after announcing his international retirement.

“Firstly, we’re looking for good men, men who want to be part of a team, who are prepared to go to the well and dig deep," said Gatland.

"A lot of players, particularly the younger ones, don’t always know the limits of what they can do, and how hard and far they can push themselves at the highest level.

“For a number of them they realise pretty quickly that the step up to international rugby is massive in terms of pace, physicality and intensity. I’ve always said as a coach that you can’t coach ‘experience’ – it has to be learned just by being out there and playing."