Wales slumped to their 14th defeat in a row against Italy (Image: ITV / Getty)
Ex- skipper Dan Biggar suggested Warren Gatland could be sacked mid-Six Nations Campaign after Saturday’s defeat away to Wales.
It marked , 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.
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Wales suffered a humiliating defeat away to Wales (Image: Getty)
“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 ITV, Gatland said: “It’s very frustrating from our point of view, as a watch, probably shot ourselves in the foot with the penalty count being 14-4, I know we got a few in the end. Missed a couple of opportunities we created and didn’t finish off. Very frustrating.”
When quizzed on his coaching methods, he added: “We’ve been pretty clear on the messaging with the players, but when you look back on the replays, it’s a couple of soft penalties we’ve given away. Couple of kick chases where we were high, offside at a couple of breakdowns.
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“Probably our scrum wasn’t as effective as it needed to be in the first half. We did create a few opportunities, bit unlucky in terms of Josh Adams had a couple of chances. Very disappointing.”
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