Gatland gives rookies time to stake claim

WARREN GATLAND has said that while Saturday’s Test with Australia is not ideally scheduled, it will still play an important part in building success for Wales.

“It potentially is a game that maybe is a little bit too far,” said the Wales head coach. “But the thing is the international game generates the money and it’s a way of helping with the regions.”

The match in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium will be Wales’s 17th this year.

Gatland says his players needed a rest after their “emotional” World Cup campaign, where Wales finished fourth.

The New Zealander says the physical toll has also been felt, with at least 15 of the 28 players who reported to the Wales camp last week unable to train immediately because they were “injured or knocked around a little bit”.

But he believes the build-up to the 2015 World Cup in England begins on Saturday, with rookies like prop Scott Andrews – making his first start – and uncapped Alex Cuthbert on the bench being given the chance to stake a claim.

“It’s a new cycle that we’ve got to start thinking about; the short-term stuff is the Six Nations. Then you’ve got to start looking at the long term and talking about 2015, thinking about building the depth.

The exciting thing is a lot of these players will be around the next four years and the challenge for them is to continue their form, to continue to improve and not stagnate . . . it’s exciting times for Wales, I think.

While Gatland is looking to the future, his hand forced by injuries and the unavailability of players at French and English clubs, he admits to financial “pressures”.

“There’s a commitment that the WRU has to help in funding the professional game, funding the community game. This game will see money generated from television rights, sponsors, from the crowd – there’s always that pressure on you to play games.”

The fractured nature of the Northern Hemisphere rugby season has its critics in Wales, with many coaches believing each competition – club or international – should be played in individual blocks.

Scarlets coach Nigel Davies says the timing of this game is a consequence of that “crazy” structure, and argues the Southern Hemisphere model should be followed here.

“They start with the club season, from that they pick their provincial sides and they have their provincial season,” said Davies. “From that they go into the international season and then they go on tour. It’s perfect really and it works very well for them.”

With the Six Nations starting in February, Wales will be the only side to have played a game since the World Cup ended in October.

Gatland hopes youngsters such as Lloyd Williams, Scott Williams and Cuthbert use the game as a platform to further their career.

“And for everyone as well, it’s a farewell to Shane Williams on a fantastic career.”