LONDON: Warren Gatland has called on his side to emulate the “never give in” attitude of southern hemisphere teams in both codes as his Wales side go in search of a rare win against Australia.
Gatland’s native New Zealand showed the way last weekend, the rugby league team beating England right at the death with a last-minute converted try in their World Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday before the All Blacks followed suit against Ireland in Dublin 24 hours later.
Wales, despite being Europe’s Six Nations champions, have a dreadful record against southern hemisphere giants South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
And it is one that has barely changed since Gatland took charge, with Wales losing 21 out of 22 tests against the SANZAR trio, the exception a 21-18 win over the Wallabies in 2008.
But they have lost their last eight tests against Australia, albeit the three most recent defeats were by a combined margin of just five points.
Last year’s encounter was typical of the resolve Gatland so admires, with Australia beating Wales 14-12 at the Millennium Stadium thanks to Kurtley Beale’s try in the closing seconds.
It was a painful lesson and one Gatland hopes Wales will have learnt from when they face the Wallabies in Cardiff on Saturday -- the final major union international of 2013. It’s that never-give-in attitude. We saw it in the rugby league as well,” Gatland said.
“I can only talk about my own experiences. You fight until your last breath with everything you’ve got. That’s the mindset.
“You try to bring that same attitude into the squads you are dealing with.
“With the Welsh team we’ve worked hard and are in great shape physically, and it’s about transferring that into the little one percenters that we are now talking about.” AFP
