Six Nations 2024: Wales coach Warren Gatland 'loving' pressure of Wooden Spoon Italy Test

Warren Gatland won three Grand Slams during his first 12-year stint as Wales head coach and was appointed for a second spell in December 2022

Warren Gatland says he is loving the pressure of trying to avoid his first Wooden Spoon with Wales in the Six Nations finale against Italy.

Head coach Gatland has never finished bottom of the table with Wales as he concludes his 12th campaign.

Wales have lost four games so far and are looking to avoid a clean sweep of defeats for the first time since 2003.

Gatland's side are four points behind weekend opponents Italy going into the final round of matches.

Italy arrive in Cardiff following a victory over Scotland and a draw with France. Bonus points could still come into the equation in terms of deciding which team props up the table.

When asked how he was feeling this week, Gatland responded: "I love it. It is a challenge. You find out about people in weeks like this when you are under a bit of pressure, how you respond, who is going to put their hand up and accept responsibility.

"You find out more about individuals when you are under pressure. That's what international professional sport is about, whether you are playing for Grand Slams or at the other end of the table and fighting for survival.

"We are fighting to make sure we get a win on the weekend."

Gatland added: "I am still asking questions about things you would do and prepare differently.

"If you think you know everything, you are probably in the wrong thing, things keep moving on."

• Emotional North reflects on glittering career

• Wales recall retiring North and Tompkins for Italy

Uncharted territory with Wales

Gatland is trying to avoid a first Six Nations clean sweep of defeats in what is his 16th tournament, having also had four campaigns in charge of Ireland from 1998 to 2001.

Ireland lost all four games in the 1998 Five Nations but Gatland was not in charge for that complete campaign having replaced Brian Ashton after the opening match.

In his first 12-year stint with Wales, he oversaw 10 tournaments with Rob Howley in charge in 2013 and 2017 when Gatland was on British and Irish Lions duty.

Gatland won Grand Slams in 2008, 2012 and 2019 and had an overall Six Nations record of 35 wins, 14 defeats and one draw in those first 50 games.

Since he replaced Wayne Pivac in December 2022, Gatland's Six Nations return has been one win and eight defeats in nine games.

That success was an away victory in Italy last year with Gatland's overall record standing at six wins and 11 defeats in 17 Test matches since he returned.

Wales are aiming to recover from a Six Nations stretch of 11 defeats in 12 matches, including six successive losses at home.

"Both winning and losing become habits, and we've got to break that," said Gatland.

"We are desperate for a win on Saturday. Hopefully we have the chance to get the crowd behind us and do something special at home.

"International rugby is about winning and we understand pressure and expectation we put on ourselves."

Another departure

Gatland has lost a lot of experience since returning, with George North this week announcing he will be joining Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Webb, Josh Navidi, Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny in retiring from international rugby, while Louis Rees-Zammit has left for American football.

Taulupe Faletau, Jac Morgan, Dewi Lake, Gareth Anscombe, Tomas Francis and Liam Williams have also been unavailable through injury or club commitments.

This has meant Gatland has given players like Cameron Winnett, Alex Mann, Mackenzie Martin, Evan Lloyd and Archie Griffin a chance when they have only played a handful of games for their clubs.

Wales' replacement front row against Italy consists of Kemsley Mathias, Lloyd and uncapped prop Harri O'Connor, with the trio only having two international appearances, totalling 41 minutes, between them.

Hooker Lloyd, a converted number eight, won his first cap off the bench against France last weekend, having never started a professional game for Cardiff.

• Can Wales avoid Six Nations Wooden Spoon?

• Six Nations title permutations, fixtures & coverage

• Wales must deal with the pressure - Beard

Props Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti have been left out against Italy, while other options outside the squad include Nicky Smith, Rhys Carre, Liam Belcher, Sam Parry and Tom Botha.

Gatland is backing his young, inexperienced trio to deliver.

"They've got to do a job," said Gatland.

"Particularly in a few positions up front, it's important we develop depth.

"Corey has been involved and we've got Gareth [Thomas], who has a lot of experience now, but there's a chance for Kemsley to get game time.

"We know Evan is a good rugby player, he's a converted back rower. He's already a big man now. He is working on the set-piece, it's about looking short term and long term.

"It's one of those scenarios where you pick youngsters, give them a chance and if it doesn't work out, you get heavily criticised.

"On the other hand, if you're not developing and get injuries, people ask why you didn't give youngsters an opportunity.

"We're trying to find a balance and creating depth."

Rebuilding process

Gatland, who guided Wales to the 2023 World Cup quarter-finals, says he knew the scale of the rebuild when he returned and backed the youth policy.

"We've made this decision, you tend to go back and look a little bit at history," said Gatland.

"You can go back as far as 2003, which probably wasn't the best year for Welsh rugby, but two years later, that team won the Grand Slam.

"It takes time. You can't coach experience, players learn from being out in the middle. They make mistakes, but it's how you rectify those mistakes to be better the next time.

"We know where we are as a group. These players have worked incredibly hard and I can't question the effort.

"For us and some players, it's a steep learning curve but we knew that when we took it on."