Ex-Wales skipper suggests Warren Gatland could be sacked mid-Six Nations after Italy loss | Rugby | Sport

Ex-Wales skipper Dan Biggar suggested Warren Gatland could be sacked mid-Six Nations Campaign after Saturday’s defeat away to Wales. 

It marked Wales’ 14th consecutive defeat in a row, with Gatland’s side having now sunk down to 12th in the world rankings – their lowest-ever position. 

A Tommaso Allan penalty goal and Ange Capuozzo try put Italy ahead, with the home side never looking like relinquishing their lead throughout 80 minutes of punishing rugby for Wales. 

Italy led 16-3 at the half and added a couple more penalty goals to take their tally to 22 points in the second half, with a sole try via Aaron Wainwright all Wales could muster. 

It’s left Gatland’s tenure as Wales coach hanging by a thread and when quizzed on the New Zealander’s future post-match, Biggar admitted he could be let go mid-Championship. 

Speaking to ITV Sport, Biggar said: “That’s for people far higher up than myself to decide. I don’t think anything is off the table, because you can’t carry on like this. We said in the Autumn, it can’t be 14, 15, 16 [defeats]. At the minute, it is going to be 14, 15, 16, unless something miraculous happens.”

When asked on where the root cause of the problem is, he added: “It’s such a shame, because there’s so many good people there and people who have had success previously.

“But clearly what is happening Monday to Friday at the minute isn’t translating on the Saturday.”

Gatland addressed the concerns surrounding his premiership in the post-match debrief, insisting he’s still working hard on finding a solution. 

Speaking to S4C, Gatland said: “I can understand people’s frustration and we are frustrated and disappointed as well because we created opportunities but we have made mistakes and the penalty count was disappointing.

“As a coaching team and players they are not hard fixes but we need to make sure we focus in those key moments.”

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