‘Sad time for Welsh rugby’ – reaction to Gatland’s departure

Former Wales centre Jonathan Davies told Scrum V: The Warm Up that Welsh rugby is facing “far bigger issues”, and that Gatland’s departure will not be the solution.

“You see the product that we’ve been able to put on the field and it hasn’t been good enough,” said Davies.

“I don’t know whether it [parting ways with Gatland] is going to get rid of all our problems, there’s far bigger issues.

“I think Warren’s felt that the guillotine was coming down, so he decided to go on his own terms.

“It’s hard to see when it happens like this in the middle of the Six Nations.

“It’s a tough one for him I’m sure, but it’s probably now time to move on, the results speak for themselves.”

Davies pointed to the recent struggles of Wales’ Under-20s side, and says the warning signs were there but not dealt with.

“The Under-20s, in the last eight years, the best they have done is finish fourth in the U20s Six Nations.

“Those players coming through to the senior game now, if you’re just going off that as a statistic, we are getting the bottom half of the player pool.

“We need to find the right personnel to develop that talent.

“The problem is the academy levels and the talent production are not doing it the right way, that is what is impacting us now.

“This is the product of these last eight years where we have not performed at Under-20s level.”