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Warren Gatland has admitted that he is uncertain over his future as Wales head coach after his side suffered a 12th consecutive defeat and ended 2024 without a Test win.
Having already overseen the worst losing run in the nation’s history, Gatland is under severe pressure and his young team never looked likely to match South Africa.
While the hosts showed plenty of fight, the world champion Springboks emerged as comfortable 45-12 victors at the Principality Stadium to complete an unbeaten Autumn Nations Series.
The focus post-match was on Gatland’s security in his role, though, as speculation continues over whether the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) might consider ending his second stint.
The New Zealander offered his resignation at the end of the Six Nations and, while appearing to rule out a similar pronouncement in the immediate aftermath of defeat, conceded that tough conversations would need to occur over the next few days ahead of an official review in the coming weeks.
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens over the next couple of days,” Gatland explained. “The last few weeks have been challenging and tough. We question ourselves after each game. But that is no different [to usual] When you are losing you do that, but when you are on winning streaks you still ask yourself the same questions. I’ll go and chat with the powers that be, and talk to my family as well.
“The last couple of weeks have been challenging in terms of the negativity. You’ve got to assess what has happened. I’m motivated to want to be here and we’ve got a good group of men who are only going to get better. I do definitely want to be here, it is just about letting the dust settle and talking about if it is the best thing.”
The WRU will hold their annual general meeting on Sunday after a difficult year on and off the pitch.
Ioan Cunningham departed his role as head coach of Wales’s women earlier in November after the union apologised following allegations of sexism and mistreatment towards the squad.
Ongoing concerns over the nation’s domestic structure continue to be a bugbear, with continuing questions over the efficacy of the four Welsh regions in preparing players for Test rugby.
Gatland believes the success of his side during his first spell in charge “papered over the cracks” within the nation.
“There are a number of things that will hopefully be talked about. We have, for a long time, had issues within the game. The success we have had in the past has papered over the cracks. It is going to take a lot to fix it and get back on track. It’s whether people give you time and have the patience to do that. What I saw today gave me a lot of positive hope that we can improve and get better.
“It was a tough game, a really tough game. I can’t question how hard our players tried out there. They gave absolutely everything. They’ll learn massively from that game tonight. Hopefully they will be better for that the next time and the time after that. What the players put in, people should be really proud of that.
“I’m not contented with the result, we are disappointed. But I can’t question how hard the players tried. There need to be learnings that go with that. We know how clinical the world champions are and the power they can bring. That puts you under some pressure. For us, going away from this campaign, a few players are aware that there is some work to do from a conditioning perspective so they are in better shape when we come back for the next campaign.”
