1 day Ago By [email protected] (Jon Doel)
Here are the latest rugby headlines on Wednesday, November 20. Gatland press conference Warren Gatland is today scheduled to announce his Wales team to play South Africa and hold a much-anticipated press conference. It will be the first time Gatland has spoken publicly since the immediate aftermath of Sunday's humbling defeat against Australia, with his future in charge of the national team in grave doubt.
The New Zealander is still expected to be at the helm for the match against the Springboks, but could depart soon after, with a number of pundits and former players calling for him to go after 11 straight defeats. Gatland has been holding talks with WRU bosses this week to decide what's best for the future. Amid all the off-field drama, there is a game on Saturday, and Gatland will reveal who is in the 23-man matchday squad later this morning.
You can follow the announcement here live. Get the latest breaking news sent directly to your phone with our free Whatsapp service here. Players' belief in Gatland questioned Former England and Lions international Ugo Monye has questioned whether Wales' players still have belief in Warren Gatland.
Monye, who was part of the 2009 Lions tour Gatland coached on, admitted he found the New Zealander's post-match interviews difficult to watch on Sunday after the Australia debacle. And he believes Gatland is already "half way out the door" as he rightly questions whether it is worth continuing amid the criticism and scrutiny. Monye said on the Rugby Union weekly podcast: "I had it in certain periods of my career when a coach says something and you don't even question it, head down and get on with it.
"But you need to see some tangible evidence why we are working so hard, why we are getting blasted in the press every week. If you are not getting that, the person who is in charge of that group, it erodes away the belief in them, because it's not working. "So going into a South Africa week.
.. this is a team who conceded 39 points when teams have been down to 14 men over the last two weeks.
That is a team bereft of any confidence and belief. "If you start losing belief in your head coach that is probably the trigger to find someone else, whether that person is better or not. Because you have to instil belief.
"I feel like he is half out the door. And he was right and fair when he was asked about his future and he said he has to ask his wife. We are talking about it in a professional capacity, but these coaches are under pressure as human beings.
The wider impact of the family at some point, you're thinking, does it feel as worth it as it once did?" Lawrence always grateful to Jones By Duncan Bech, PA England Rugby Correspondent Ollie Lawrence insists Eddie Jones’ tough love shaped him into the player he has become as England’s former head coach prepares for his Allianz Stadium return with Japan. Jones gave Lawrence his debut as a 21-year-old in 2021 but months later he offered an unflattering appraisal of the barnstorming centre in his book ‘Leadership: Lessons from my Life in Rugby’. “He’s still a kid, only 21, but the way that some of the media raves about him you would think he’s already assured of becoming one of the best players in the world,” Jones wrote.
“He might do that, one day, but his attitude was not hungry or disciplined enough.” Lawrence was frozen out in the last year and a half of Jones’ reign but once the Australian was sacked, his international career was revived by Steve Borthwick. Under Borthwick, the hard running Bath threequarter has been an ever-present and he is now cemented in his choice midfield alongside Henry Slade.
Jones faces England at Twickenham for the first time since his departure amid claims from Danny Care that he is a “despot” who oversaw a “toxic” environment, but Lawrence has come to appreciate his management style. “I’ll always be grateful to Eddie because he gave me my first England cap. He’s one of those coaches, as we all know, that likes to challenge players,” Lawrence said.
“There was a point in my career where he challenged me on my attitude and whether I was working hard enough to warrant being in the squad and whether I was pushing myself enough in training. “At the time you can look at it and be frustrated and be ‘oh, the boss isn’t on my side here’. Back then I was probably a bit annoyed.
I was probably like ‘why is he on my case so much, why is he on my case?’. “But now I look back three or four years on and think that was probably the best thing that I needed then. “I’d come into an England squad at a young age, things had gone well for me at Worcester and then you’re on the international stage and you’re with all these players so there’s another level you have to raise your game to.
“Maybe at the time I didn’t see that but looking back I can definitely see why he may have thought that I wasn’t pushing myself as much as I needed to. Hopefully that lesson back then has helped me to be where I am now.”.
