Warren Gatland was contemplating what to say on TV. He was working out in his mind how he would explain it to the press. After 11 years and nearing the end of his 124th match in charge, he was staring down the barrel of the end to his career as the Wales coach. He was oblivious to the thousands of fans streaming out of the stadium but even they will have heard his sigh of relief when Ross Moriarty’s try was awarded with six minutes to go. It could have been heard for miles.
Gatland wore the look a man who understood how close his side were to heading home and it would be no surprise if he afforded himself a stiff drink on Sunday night. “You start going through lots of emotions,” he said, somewhat understatedly.
He had said seven days before, when it was confirmed Wales would be facing France at a World Cup for the first time since the 2011 semi-final, that he did not feel like he had finished with the tournament. He would have had to reconsider had the referee, Jaco Peyper, ultimately decided to rule out Moriarty’s try. “Ironic,” was Gatland’s wry judgment when comparing this one-point victory in which a red card had been decisive with that meeting in Auckland eight years ago.
When these sides last met, at the start of this year’s Six Nations, Gatland’s take was that his side had “forgotten how to lose”. They trailed by 16 points at half-time then, nine here, but this was the greater escape. And Gatland knew it.
For this was a rank Wales performance, totally outplayed by France, who contributed some delightful rugby. Gatland seemed not to care too much about that. He has made winning by any means necessary Wales’s modus operandi and it must be considered a success that, leaving World Cup warm-up matches aside, they have won their last 19 matches.
Put simply, Gatland would have no qualms if Wales won all of their matches here 3-0. Shaun Edwards, his defence coach, who is set to join the France coaching staff after this tournament, would no doubt agree. For if Wales did anything well on Sunday, they scrambled in defence superbly. As Gatland said: “Credit to these players, I’m very proud of the fact that they don’t give up.”
He pinpointed France’s decision to kick at goal towards the end of the first half, with Wales nine points down, as the pivotal moment of the match. Romain Ntamack struck a post, Wales held out until the interval and France’s swashbuckling fly-half did not emerge for the second half. He had been levelled just beforehand by Dan Biggar and it was George North’s last-ditch tackle that stopped a certain try.
You might think in a World Cup semi-final, defending well is a prerequisite. Wales cannot keep relying on a refusal to admit defeat but there is a growing body of evidence to suggest otherwise. The final four years ago was contested by the teams with the two best attacks but England and Wales have ensured there are two home nations in the final four for the first time since 1991 and they have done so by having the best defences.
There have been some pretty average attacking performances in those 19 victories – last autumn against Australia and over Scotland during this year’s Six Nations spring to mind – but as Eddie Jones said before England booked their semi-final place: “Tournaments, and particularly a World Cup, is about a team sticking together. The rugby in a World Cup is pretty simple. You don’t see brilliant rugby in World Cups. You see teams that are able to do things over and over again well – deal with the intensity, application, work hard for each other – that wins World Cups.”
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Team guides
Pool A: Ireland, Japan, Russia, Samoa, Scotland
Pool B: Canada, Italy, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa
Pool C: Argentina, England, France, Tonga, USA
Pool D: Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Uruguay, Wales
They do not always see eye to eye but you sense Gatland would agree with England’s coach and as Gatland reminded us on Sunday: “Alun Wyn Jones has been saying we are 240 minutes from doing something [memorable] for the rest of your life and we’re down to 160 now, so if you can’t get excited about that then nothing will excite you.”
Wales, now into their third World Cup semi-final, have every right to be excited about Sunday’s showdown with South Africa. First, however, they will have to wait for the relief to subside.
