🚨 NEW: Gatland faces seismic day and Dan Biggar left feeling ‘worried’ 😬
Gatland faces a huge day in Melbourne.
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time.
Gatland faces decisive day
It’s a huge day for Warren Gatland as Wales finally look to put an end to their eight-game losing streak against Australia.
After losing by nine points to the Wallabies in Sydney last weekend, the coach’s preparations for the rematch in Melbourne have taken somewhat of a knock with the loss of Aaron Wainwright, who has been ruled out for four months with a hamstring injury.
While this is a team in transition, a fact the coach has been keen to stress throughout the season, there are aspects of Wales’ game that need immediate attention. In Sydney, the men in red struggled at set-pieces, lacked attacking threat and were undone by their poor discipline, as they again had opportunities to win the game before ultimately falling short.
If Joe Schmidt’s side emerge victorious again to record a 2-0 series victory, it will leave Wales just one defeat away from their worst ever losing streak. Of course, Gatland won’t need reminding that there hasn’t been a Welsh victory over the Wallabies on Australian soil for 55 years.
Owen Watkin said earlier this week that a win in Melbourne was ‘non-negotiable’. If they fail to achieve that, however, it leaves Gatland and Wales in a precarious position ahead of meeting a big potential banana skin in the Queensland Reds.
Biggar ‘worried’ about rivals
Former Wales star Dan Biggar says England’s improvement under Steve Borthwick is ‘worrying’ as a Welshman, as he heaped praise on the “exciting” players in the current squad.
After finishing third at last year’s World Cup, Borthwick’s squad is now full of young, dynamic and attacking-minded players who came close to making history last wekeend as they lost to New Zealand by a single point in Dunedin. They now head to Auckland – where the All Blacks haven’t lost in 30 years – as they look to go one better.
Ahead of that second showdown, Biggar penned some thoughts on the current England set-up and admitted he was fearful of how good the team could be leading into the 2027 World Cup.
“As a former Wales player, it’s worrying me that England are really picking up!” he wrote in his Daily Mail column. “Borthwick has exciting players at his disposal and the team has a good age profile with the 2027 World Cup in mind. They are challenging the best teams now, but can still improve further too.”
He went on to compare “different and very dangerous” wingers Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tommy Freeman to Welsh duo Alex Cuthbert and George North, as he admitted he was disappointed to see Feyi-Waboso choose England over Wales, the country of his birth.
“For me, they are not traditional wingers,” he wrote. “They pop up all over the pitch looking for work. They are hungry. They want their hands on the ball and to have loads of touches. When I was Wales 10 during our successful periods, we had Alex Cuthbert and George North who constantly came off their wings to provide extra ball carrying options. Feyi-Waboso and Freeman aren’t as physically big as Cuthbert and North, but there is a comparison to be made because of how often they are involved.
“They’re like having two extra back-rows on the field with their work off the ball,” he added. “I’ve been really impressed by Feyi-Waboso in particular. His all-round game is excellent and he has really improved. It looks like he’s made a good decision to play for England over Wales, but I’m really disappointed as a Welshman he’s now wearing a white shirt not a red one!”
