Warren Gatland believes fitness could the key to Wales beating England this weekend and is confident his team can show the greater staying power.
The Wales coach has shown plenty of stamina himself over the past decade. Saturday’s Six Nations clash at Twickenham will be his 99th in charge of Wales, a landmark that will enable him to pass the previous record of 98 held by Bernard Laporte for any coach within the Six Nations to be in charge of one country.
Gatland’s conviction that Wales will get there in the end against the tournament champions is well founded and he can point to victories over the old enemy in 2008, 2012 and 2015 in the World Cup when his team came from behind to take the spoils.
“In the past, we’ve felt we’ve been fitter than the English side,” said Gatland after naming an unchanged team from the side that demolished Scotland 34-7 on the opening weekend.
“We’ve had success playing right to the end against them but this time we’ve got to start well and try to contain them as much as we can. If it’s close, then, hopefully, that confidence can boost us.
“We just need to go there with confidence and self-belief. That’s the key. And not being intimidated by the Twickenham factor. There are a lot of guys in the squad who will go there with a lot of confidence. We don’t have any fear about going there. We are excited about it.”
Even the 25-21 defeat of two years ago still rankles with Gatland as it was a day when he clearly felt Wales’ superior fitness – evidenced as they came from far behind with three tries – should have won them the match before a late attack was ruled out for a George North foot in touch.
“We look back at the World Cup game and also to two years ago towards the end of that game where George North has gone down the sideline, flicked the ball on and it has landed in Rhys Webb’s hands, and the touch judge has put his flag up.
“It’s clearly not out, and I look at it, it would have been interesting – Rhys Webb one on one five yards from the line. If he scores there, we win the game. That was a pretty critical moment, and a decision that has gone against you.”
Among the coaches in this tournament, only Eddie Jones can match Gatland when it comes to longevity in the profession. The England coach began his trade in 1994, but it is only in recent years that the two men have found their professional paths have crossed.
Very rarely have they done more than offer cautious compliments about the other and it was no different for Gatland on Tuesday, although there was some evidence of a slight backhander, but said more in jest than seriousness.
“I’m intrigued by watching Eddie,” said Gatland, “the way he prepares and how he goes about doing things. You learn as much as you possibly can from others as the game changes. He doesn’t need to nick anything from me. I’m the one learning from him. He’s done a great job so I’m watching him particularly closely.
“You can’t argue with his ambition or their record in the past couple of seasons. Getting to No 1 has definitely been their target and we’ll know by the autumn [when New Zealand visit Twickenham]. That’s going to be interesting. You set yourself up for a big game and then you potentially become No 1 or someone pulls your pants down.”
Asked whether he had noticed a greater confidence in the England Lions last summer compared to the previous tours he had been on, he answered: “I didn’t because it is the first time they’ve had a few English players!” And when the follow-up was whether he thought Jones would be interested in coaching the Lions in South Africa in 2021, he quickly shot back: “He’ll do a great job if he’s Lions coach: 3-0 will be expected. It’s probably the easiest of the three tours, isn’t it.”
England do not name their own team until Thursday, but Gatland is expecting few changes on style or substance from the team that copied Wales by starting their campaign with a bonus point victory.
“England are a very good, rounded side,” he said. “We will be taking on an absolutely massive pack at Twickenham and it will be an incredible test. We will have to be at our best to stop them. They are very positive in the way they play and they have some serious speed and attacking threats out wide with creativeness at 10 and 12.
“The only change we see is Jonathan Joseph coming back in at 13 and the key for us is to go there with confidence and self-belief and not be intimidated by the Twickenham factor. We trained against the England pack in Bristol in the autumn and that was good. We do not have any fear about going there, just excitement. Everyone talks about the dislike of the English, but I think the relationship between Wales and England has always been close. It’s a big brother-little brother thing, but it’s rugby that brings the two nations together.”