Pride in the jersey the key – Gatland

Warren Gatland feels that his transition into the Welsh set-up will be smooth, but is determined to make sure his players put pride back in the jersey ahead of the 2023 World Cup.

Gatland's return to Wales was confirmed on Monday morning, with Wayne Pivac departing after a disappointing 2022.

Having coached the side for 12 years prior to Pivac, Gatland feels he will be well-equipped to come into the role and start turning results around from the off.

In his first WRU press conference as the new man in charge, he said: “The advantage I've got is that I know the set-up and so many people involved, so I think I can hit the ground running.

“It's not like 2007/08 when I came in completely cold, I think it will be pretty seamless for me to step into the role.

“I understand that there's pressures and risks but I'm confident that I can come in and make a difference, and get a side together that are proud to put that jersey, and when they go out there they're prepared to die for that jersey. That's the expectation.

“If we can achieve that in a short period of time, I think that will give us the best opportunity to be successful.”

With issues in piling up in the domestic game off the field, and Wales' suffering dire form at the Principality Stadium with their first defeats to Italy and Georgia on home soil, Gatland is aware of possible damage to his legacy.

But like the Welsh set up in general, he believes his experience will help him negotiate the pressure that will come with the role.

“If you're a flop and failure you'll get told about it,” he said. “I'm under no illusions of what the expectations are in the next ten months.

“But I've always loved the challenge, I've always loved going to into environments with high expectations, and hopefully exceeding those expectations.

“That's part of professional sport. There are ups and downs and you live by your results and your performances.”

His first task as coach will be the Six Nations, a competition he knows very well having coached Wales in ten campaigns and winning a grand slam in three of those, and one that he puts a lot of value on.

With the split of home and away fixtures being the same as 2019, the final of his grand slams that was also in a World Cup year, Gatland is happy with the schedule and looking forward to getting started against Ireland in the first game on the 4th of February.

“It's about hitting the ground running and making sure we have a Six Nations campaign where we're competitive.

“It's a good draw, Ireland as the number one team in the World is going to be challenging but I think getting them first up is fantastic.

“Them and England at home and the blue teams away is a great draw for me to arrive in for the first Six Nations.

“But from our point of view the first thing is to see those players wearing that jersey with incredible pride, and giving a performance that reflects the hard work that they will have been putting in.

“If we do that we've got a chance of having a good Six Nations, and then we can build on that, with some great warm-up games ahead of the World Cup and then plenty of time to build towards France 2023.”