Rassie says Gatland can get Wales back on track: ‘He’s fixed things before’

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has backed Warren Gatland to get Wales back on track, ahead of the two sides’ clash at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday night.

Funnily enough though, it could be Erasmus’s team who put the final nail in Gatland’s coffin, with him under immense pressure, and a big loss to the Boks could see the end of his second reign in charge of Wales.

Gatland’s first spell at the helm of the Welsh, from 2007 to 2019, was a massive success, with them winning multiple Six Nations titles and Grand Slams, made a couple of World Cup semifinal appearances, and had a brief stint as the number one team on the World Rugby Rankings.

British and Irish Lions

He also coached the British and Irish Lions on three straight tours, beating the Wallabies 2-1 in 2013, drawing 1-all against the All Blacks in 2017, and losing 2-1 against the Springboks in 2021.

His second spell at the helm, after taking over from Wayne Pivac, who was fired in 2022, has been an unmitigated disaster.

It started on a difficult note, with Wales finishing second from bottom in the 2023 Six Nations tournament, after only beating Italy.

However, they seemed to turn things around at the Rugby World Cup in France, aided by a very friendly draw, that saw them finish unbeaten in their pool, including picking up a record 40-6 win over the Wallabies, to make the quarterfinals.

Their 29-17 loss to Argentina in the quarters then saw their form turn again, as they have gone on to lose 11 straight games, 10 this year, including finishing bottom of the Six Nations table which included a loss to Italy, while they were thrashed by a record 52-20 over the past weekend by the Wallabies.

Gatland offered his resignation after the Six Nations debacle, which was turned down, and after this past weekend’s Australian result, said again that he was willing to step away from Wales if it was the best thing for the team, but also said that he still had the drive to turn things around.

Erasmus advice

At Tuesday’s Bok team announcement conference, Erasmus was asked if he had any advice for Gatland, after he took over the Boks in 2018, after they had endured a dreadful couple of years under the reign of Allister Coetzee.

“Our situations are totally different. We were a new coaching staff that came in and then it’s easy to start a new culture because it’s like a fresh start,” explained Erasmus.

“I think Wales are a totally different scenario because Warren can’t all of a sudden become a bad coach with his track record. The players that they have, if you look at them individually, there are some world-class players in there.

“I know the record of losing 11 on the trot is obviously not great (but) whenever we play a team whose backs are against the wall (it’s difficult). You can look back to just before I took over in 2018, I think we lost 57-0 in New Zealand (in 2017).

“The next weekend we lost to the same team at Newlands by two points. That was a weekend apart. I just know Warren is a great coach and I know they’ve got great players. It’s not clicking quite there, but he is a guy who has fixed things before.”

This isn’t the first time under Erasmus’s reign that a coach has been on the chopping block ahead of a game against the Springboks, after All Blacks coach Ian Foster found himself in a similar position in 2022, with them beating the Boks at Ellis Park which reportedly earned him a stay of execution.