Warren Gatland has questioned whether some of Wales' current players are good enough for international rugby and delivered a stark verdict on the standard of coaching within the country's development pathway. Speaking on the For The Love of Rugby podcast with former England internationals Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, Gatland warned Wales face a lengthy rebuilding process before they can become a force again.
The former head coach believes some members of the current squad are little more than good regional players and fall short of international standard. But he does believe Wales can get back to competing at the top of world rugby in the future.
Gatland's verdict on current squad
"I'd like to think so," he said when asked whether Wales can get back to winning Six Nations Grand Slams in the future. "I'll be honest, I came through at a time when we had a good crop of players. We had some big physical athletic players."
"I remember the first time I went down and watched the Ospreys train. The first game I was in charge against England we picked 13 Ospreys players to start the game. It's when I rung Shaun Edwards and went 'mate do you want to come down and be the defence coach for Wales?' I said 'I think there's some real talent here.' The other thing the forwards can all catch and pass the ball."
"With a small playing nation you are always going to have your troughs and your peaks as well. They are going through a trough at the moment and it is going to take some time. If I am really brutally honest there's probably some players that I would class as being good, reasonable regional players but some of them are not quite international level. You just hope that some others are going to come through."
Criticism of development pathways
Gatland also criticised the neglect of Wales' development pathways, pointing to the loss of the national academy as a major factor in the country's struggles to produce international talent. The 63-year-old questioned the standard of coaching within the system, warning that more investment and better-quality coaching are needed to bring young players through.
"In 2015 for whatever reason - I think it was over distributing more money to the regions - we got rid of the national academy," he said. "Before that our U20s had been successful. In our U20s campaigns we'd won Grand Slams but since 2017 Wales U20s haven't finished above fourth in the Six Nations."
"I think the pathways that have been neglected with the regions' academies. Losing the national academies has had a massive impact on the development of those players coming through from the U20s into the national team. It's something they need to focus on and put the resources into at the moment with regards how important the pathway is for those younger players."
"They need to bring them through and to give them some quality coaching. Back in the day when the national academy was there you had guys like Danny Wilson, Robin McBryde and Neil Jenkins there. You had quality coaches involved in the national academy developing some of these younger players."
"I would question sometimes maybe the quality of some of the coaches in there [the regional academies] because you get a less experienced coach and they don't have to pay so much money. It comes down to finances but you've also got to be thinking not just short term but you've got to be thinking in the long-term."
Threat of English scholarships
Gatland also highlighted the growing problem of talented young Welsh players being lured across the border by scholarships at private schools in England, warning that it is a major threat to the country's ability to develop its own talent.
"If I look at Wales at any age group up to the age of 15, an age group team in Wales go across the bridge and play against an English team and they'll probably win or they've got a great chance. But what happens from 15 onwards, the English players will go through the schools system and they are in really good rugby environments with quality coaching, with weights programmes."
"You just see from 15-19 those English players the trajectory they go on and probably the Welsh players are slowly slowly improving. What happens is we have things like the Dewar Shield that used to be U15s but is U16s now. You get those private schools coming across watching the Dewar Shield and talented boys in Wales and offering them scholarships."
"If I'm a parent and my son gets offered a scholarship at a private school in London I'm going to jump at that opportunity. That's a massive challenge in Wales to stop their top talented players from being offered scholarships in private schools in England."
Reflection on second stint
Gatland enjoyed huge success during his first spell in charge of Wales, winning three Six Nations Grand Slams and reaching two Rugby World Cup semi-finals. His second stint proved a very different story, with Wales suffering 15 consecutive defeats before the New Zealander brought his time as head coach to an end.
"The thing I was disappointed with was were the results good enough? No they weren't," he told the For the Love of Rugby podcast. "It's a results driven business and I understand that. They say the second coming was poor but I don't think we get credit for what we achieved and did in the World Cup."
"They look post the World Cup after a lot of those players had left. One day I got sick of the negativity. The rugby fans in Wales, they knew. I'd go to rugby clubs and they knew the situation we were in and they knew it was going to take time."
"I was getting hammered in the media and I just woke up one day and went I don't need this anymore. I don't need this negativity in my life so I made the decision to ring the CEO and I went I'm going to finish."
