Wales boss Warren Gatland cut his interview with the BBC very short as he decided against waiting for them to interview him after his side’s Six Nations collapse. France led 20-17 at half-time in Cardiff, but powered to a thumping 45-24 victory in the first half to leave Gatland understandably disappointed.
The 60-year-old made his way down the tunnel amid France celebrations in order to conduct his press responsibilities, but was left awkwardly standing when the Beeb were preparing to speak with him. Gatland was spotted on the broadcast standing silently after a post-match discussion between pundits was interrupted to speak to the Welsh boss.
Sam Warburton, Martin Johnson and Benjamin Kayser were analysing the game when presenter Gabby Logan cut them off for Gatland’s live interview, before some technical difficulties forced them to go back to the studio.
But Gatland was incensed at the delay and walked away from reporter Sonja McLaughlan despite her protests, telling the head coach: “They’ll be coming now, so… 15 seconds.” But he interjected and replied: “You say that all the time,” before exiting.
As the coverage then went back to Logan and the BBC pundits, Warburton apologised to viewers and his former coach: “That’s our fault, we talked for too long and Gats had enough! Sorry Gats.”
Gatland was unhappy with the amount of time taken and instead went to speak with Welsh broadcaster S4C before then returning to speak with the BBC. Logan introduced him again as she said: “We’ve got Warren back, let’s hear from him!”
He discussed how Wales need to relish the prospect of their final Six Nations encounter next week against Italy, as they bid to avoid becoming the first Welsh team in 21 years to finish bottom of the Six Nations.
Looking ahead to the Wooden Spoon decider, Gatland explained: “It’s massive, but we’ve got to be excited and embrace that challenge. You can’t hide away from it. I’ve never done that, you can’t go into your shell.
“There’s going to be a lot of external pressure and expectation. International rugby is always about that. We’ve got to front up and make sure we work hard next week to give a performance at home.
“You can’t just not talk about it. We said in the changing rooms afterwards we need to be better, especially in those big moments. We’ve got to front up next week in training and we know how important it is for us next week that we win.”
He will hope to repeat their first-half performance against France that featured tries from Rio Dyer, Tomos Williams and Joe Roberts, but improve on a second 40 minutes that saw an under-pressure French team run away with the result.
Reporter McLaughlan later explained: “Just to make clear. No issue with Warren Gatland post-match. We asked for a short delay so we could do the interview live. But Warren had to do S4C before coming back to air his thoughts on the BBC. Always enjoy talking to him and today no different.”
