2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Ben James)
Former Wales centre and current Welsh Rugby Union board member Jamie Roberts has said that Warren Gatland will still be here next week amid growing speculation over his future. After an 11th Test defeat in a row last weekend against Australia, it is looking increasingly likely that a decision will be made on Gatland's future sooner rather than later. The Wales head coach has outlined his desire to stay in the job, while adding that he would resign if he felt it was in the best interest of Welsh rugby.
However, Roberts appears to believe Gatland will be going nowhere, saying on the Autumn Nations Rugby Show on Quest: "Yes, I think he will (still be here next week). "There's a lot of chat about Warren Gatland . I have a huge amount of respect for the guy, he gave me my opportunity.
But this is a problem that everyone's in, not just the coaches, it's the players, the union - it's role your sleeves up time. From crisis comes huge opportunity." Roberts has been one of many former Welsh players voicing their opinions in recent weeks, with his views perhaps more significant than most because of his role as an independent Non-Executive Director on the Union's board.
After the defeat to Fiji, Roberts stated it was the "worst Wales had been in the professional era". He also said he "understood the spin Warren is trying to give", but did not think Wales "had moved forward". Gatland insisted he had no problem with Roberts expressing his opinion as a paid pundit, although stated he knew that a couple of people had been in touch with the former player to say he was out of line - only for Roberts to respond by saying no one had contacted him.
Speaking about the current state of the Wales team, Roberts added: "It's a different era for Welsh rugby, and I feel very privileged to have been around quality players such as Dan Biggar and Sam Warburton - we had a quality side. "It's the experience in the current side, we lost a lot of experience after the World Cup and it's a young group now who are unfortunately having to learn their trade in the game at the top level. A lot of them don't have a lot of club experience let alone Test experience, so it's hard when it's such a steep learning curve.
"I remember trying to find my feet at Test level, a lot of this group are trying to do it together all at once. It's not like these young lads are sprinkled amongst experience - so that's the challenge. "I just think for Wales - can they be a bit smarter this weekend.
I think we'll see a team that are going to kick the ball a bit more against the Springboks as well as shifting the ball a bit more. They have to play more ball in hand against South Africa.".
