- Gatland’s only wins last season came in no-holds-barred games in a losing streak.
- Wales will face Fiji on Sunday before further clashes with Australia and South Africa.
- Defeat to Fiji would mark 10 consecutive defeats and equal the worst streak in Wales’ history
Warren Gatland said on Friday he was enjoying the pressure of ending Wales’ nine-match losing streak and was expecting “ecstasy rather than agony” against Fiji on Sunday.
Gatland’s only wins last season came in no-holds-barred matches. Wales are looking to get back on track in their first match of November before further clashes with Australia and South Africa.
“Every defeat is a struggle,” said Gatland, after naming Blair Murray for his Wales debut at full-back just months after his arrival from New Zealand.
‘But I enjoy those challenges in terms of pressure. If you’ve lost a match in the last minute or won in the last minute, performance isn’t usually what’s taken into account. It is the result. That’s what people look at. When you coach a rugby club you have some time during the season to fail while trying things.
‘In international rugby there is a lot of pressure on you. Let us hope that on Sunday there will be ecstasy instead of agony.”
Warren Gatland has admitted he enjoys the pressure of ending Wales’ nine-match losing streak
Gatland’s team should have enough to beat Fiji on Sunday, but would equal their worst run with a defeat.
The match will be Wales’ first game of November before further clashes with Australia and South Africa.
A defeat to Fiji would mark Wales’ 10th consecutive international defeat and equal the worst record in the country’s history, one that dates back to the Steve Hansen era.
But with the return of much-needed international experience, Wales should have enough to win. Gareth Anscombe is back at fly-half and will be kicking goals.
His Gloucester teammates Tomos Williams and Max Llewellyn also start in the back division. Interestingly, Wales will have former Welsh referee Nigel Owens in their coaches box for the match against Fiji, advising them on decisions being made on the field. The Fiji team sees the return of its England and France-based internationals after they missed last Saturday’s thrashing of Scotland.
Wales have only lost to Fiji once, most famously in the 2007 World Cup. Gatland has urged his men to get back to winning ways and compete for a tour of Australia with the British & Irish Lions next summer.
“At the moment with Wales it’s about how to get as many players as possible on the Lions tour,” Gatland said. ‘There is a chance that those players will put their hands up and potentially be in the frame.
“I see it as part of my job, to do the best I can to promote players to play at the highest level possible.”
