Wales head coach makes big decision ahead of Six Nations clashes with Ireland and Scotland

Warren Gatland is reportedly set to leave his role as Wales head coach ahead of Six Nations clashes with Ireland, Scotland and England.

The Welsh have endured a torrid start to their latest Six Nations campaign after opening up with a 43-0 hammering at the hands of France before succumbing to a 22-15 loss in Italy on Saturday. The pair of defeats means Gatland’s side have now lost their last 14 test matches and that is the worst run in Wales’ 144-year history of competing in international Rugby.

Despite suffering another dismal loss, the former British and Ireland Lions head coach insisted he still had a future with Wales, despite admitted his frustrations with his side’s performance.

Speaking after the defeat in Rome, Gatland vowed to fight on, telling BBC Sport: "It's not the easiest position to be in but you have to be strong. There's no doubt it's challenging. You do question yourself in terms of [being able to turn things round]. We talked [after the game] about continuing to work hard and staying tight as a group. Everyone is pretty frustrated, the players, staff and coaches. There's no-one more disappointed than we are. We will review and highlight areas where we can still get better, and for me personally."

There was further pressure placed upon Gatland when former Wales captain Gwyn Jones insisted his position in charge of the national team had become ‘untenable’ and stressed there appeared to be ‘no strategy’ in place to help his side mount a comeback in Saturday’s defeat against Italy.

He said: “There were times in that second-half yesterday when I though that was the most depressing and awful performance I’ve seen from Wales. We needed to chase the game, we needed something to try and get an impact on the Italian defence and we had nothing. We had no strategy and I thought that had to be the end, this has to be the end of Gatland’s coaching. It’s untenable, his job is to win test matches, it’s 14 straight losses with better teams to come, it’s going to be 17. How can you justify staying in your position? They’ve sat on their hands for a year not wanting to make a decision on Gatland asking for reviews.”

Despite earlier reports suggesting Gatland would leave his role at the end of this year’s Six Nations, it now appears the former All-Blacks hooker is set to step down midway through the competition and an interim head coach will be appointed ahead of a home clash with reigning champions Ireland on Saturday week. BBC Sport have reported former Australia coach Michael Cheika, Glasgow coach Franco Smith and Ireland interim boss Simon Easterby are potential candidates to take permanent charge once the Six Nations comes to a close next month.

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