Gatland’s Young Wales Side Faces Tough Test Against Formidable Springboks
An inexperienced Wales team is set to take on a South Africa side that might be missing a few players, but will still boast 10 World Cup winners in their match-day squad. Despite the challenges, Wales head coach Warren Gatland is confident his young side can rise to the occasion.
“If you start doubting yourself, you have to be able to overcome those sorts of challenges,” said Gatland. “Test match rugby is tough and physical; you have got to be able to handle adversity. It is probably not the politically correct thing at the moment in today’s society, but you have to be mentally tough.”
Gatland emphasized the importance of mental fortitude, stating that the players must be willing to “go through that pain sometimes and be able to come out the other side.” He believes this will be crucial against the physically imposing Springboks.
“There are going to be lots of different emotions and things to challenge yourself on, get through that and come out the other side,” Gatland added.
The Wales head coach has highlighted several young players who are eager to embrace the challenge, including Dewi Lake and Dafydd Jenkins. “They won’t walk away from a challenge, they run towards it and see it as something they thrive on in terms of meeting it head on,” he said.
Gatland is hopeful that this match will help Wales gain some much-needed respect, despite their relative lack of international experience. “We are not very experienced in terms of the number of caps and guys on the bench,” he acknowledged. “There’s a great opportunity for this team to go out and perform after we’ve been training and working hard.”
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