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Warren Gatland claims first-half referee change against Argentina ‘turned them upside down’ and admits he doesn’t know what’s in his contract regarding his future as head coach of Wales.
Warren Gatland claims first-half referee change against Argentina ‘turned them upside down’ and admits he doesn’t know what’s in his contract regarding his future as head coach of Wales.
Wales manager Warren Gatland has placed his future in the hands of the Welsh Rugby Union following his side’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina.
Los Pumas came from behind to win a dramatic match in Marseille 29-17 and reach their third World Cup semi-final.
It was Gatland’s fourth World Cup quarter-final and, although the New Zealander said he “absolutely” wanted to continue with his Wales side, the 60-year-old admitted it was not his decision.
As for whether he was committed to the project given its break clause, Gatland joked: “It’s like an Eddie Jones question, isn’t it?”
“I’m not too sure about the content of my contract,” he added. “If the Union wants to get rid of me, it’s up to them.
“We’re all gutted about this because it got away from us. But you have to learn lessons – how can we improve?
“We probably played a bit too much rugby halfway through and we needed to be more conservative.
Welsh players gutted after being led
“I’m incredibly proud of the work these players have done. We’ve made a lot of progress with this team in a short time and there’s definitely more growth in us as a group and I hope they help us get started . on.
“We will lose a bit of experience, but we have some exciting players coming in, so we need to put today’s disappointment behind us.
“We have a game against the Barbarians and then we have to start preparing for the Six Nations.”
Much of the experience Wales will lose is that of Dan Biggar, who scored a try in his final game for Wales in a 15-year international career.
Dan Biggar celebrates after scoring the first try for Wales
While Gatland lamented “soft” penalties before the break from his side, he praised the opposition for their hard work.
“For us, a few light penalties before halftime probably allowed them to get back into the game,” he said.
“10-0 and I thought we were doing well at that stage. But I don’t want to take anything away from Argentina – a tough team, they held their own in the fight and when they had their opportunities they took them.
Argentina’s Joel Sclavi is congratulated by his teammates after scoring his try
“When Rio Dyer makes that break at the end, if we can get the ball back then we can probably score and it’s a different result.
“But it was a tough test match. The teams battled it out and Argentina deserve a lot of credit for coming away with the spoils. That’s what test rugby is all about.
“We maybe played too much rugby around the halfway line, they kicked and played a lot of territory and we had a lot of turnovers in that area – maybe we needed to sneak in there – in and play a little more territory.”
There was a controversial moment when referee Karl Dickson had an important decision to make in the minutes before Joel Sclavi’s decisive second-half score: Argentine second-row Guido Petti made contact with the head of Nick Tompkins in a scrum, and the referee ruled. there was no foul play as Tompkins went down, despite Welsh protests.
Wales protest key Karl Dickson decision
Gatland said he felt it was “at least a penalty”, admitting the disruption from the injured referee may have disrupted his team.
“It will be interesting to see the feedback on this (Petti) challenge,” Gatland said.
“If he feels that Nick has gone down in size, I have to go back and think about it. I thought it was at least a penalty.
“I also thought Dillon Lewis was on the ball before he scored – those big moments can turn things around in big games.
“It probably didn’t help the referee getting injured. It was a bit disruptive in terms of the game. It destabilizes you.
“We were comfortable with Jaco Peyper and the relationship we have with him in terms of controlling the game.
“It’s nothing against Karl, but you do a lot of analysis on what referees tend to be tough on, what they look for.
“We weren’t really prepared for the change. Sometimes it happens in the game and you just have to deal with it.”
“Wales are the authors of their own downfall, but they have exceeded their objectives”
There was a certain indiscipline in the game in Marseille
James Cole from Sky Sports:
“They will be extremely disappointed. It was a valiant effort from Wales, but the fine margins did not go their way.
“They took a 10-point lead and looked very good, but they made a few handling errors, they were poorly disciplined and allowed Argentina to get back into the game.
“At 10-6 at half-time, they took a 12-10 lead early in the second half, and Wales let the lead slip away at crucial moments.
There was actually a controversial moment at the end of the match where there was a shoulder and head collision against Nick Tompkins, the Welsh center. This has been a big problem throughout the World Cup.
“We saw a shoulder to the head of Tompkins and it wasn’t considered a yellow or red card, the referee felt Tompkins was falling so it’s mitigation, and it was at a crucial moment in the game – Tompkins had to go out for a head injury evaluation.
“Without making excuses, Wales will admit that at times they have been the cause of their own downfall.
“The lineout didn’t work, there were too many penalties, too many handling errors and they weren’t clinical enough when entering Argentina’s final third.
“It’s terribly disappointing because if they had qualified Warren Gatland would have taken Wales to a third World Cup semi-final.
“I still think Wales have overachieved at this World Cup. A lot of people thought they wouldn’t make it out of their group, they did comfortably, they sent Australia home.
“In the end it was a bridge too far, but they have made progress since Warren Gatland returned.”
Argentina will face the winner of Ireland v New Zealand on Friday, October 20 at 8 p.m.