Warren Gatland has reacted to Wales’s defeat against Ireland on Saturday by dropping three Lions from his World Cup squad – Mike Phillips, James Hook and Richard Hibbard – in a display of ruthlessness that has characterised his eight seasons as head coach.
Wales were beaten 35-21 by Ireland in Cardiff, rallying in the final 25 minutes when Phillips, Hook and Hibbard, who have 210 Wales caps between them, had all been taken off. It is probably no coincidence that all three earn their livings outside the country at a time when there is pressure to reduce the flow of players to England and France and it is an indication Wales will look to play a faster paced game in the World Cup.
Hook has been a peripheral figure in the Wales squad since the last World Cup – Saturday was only his second start at outside-half for his country in that time – but Phillips and Hibbard were key figures in Wales’s 2013 Six Nations’ title success and were Lions’ Test starters that year.
Gatland has never been afraid to make tough decisions since taking over at the end of 2007: four years ago, he left the experienced flanker Martyn Williams out of the World Cup squad and last season he ditched the veteran tight-head prop Adam Jones.
The exclusion of the 94-cap Phillips (his five for the Lions leaves him one short of a century in international rugby) leaves Wales with three scrum-halves, Rhys Webb, Gareth Davies and Lloyd Williams, who have won 36 caps between them. Phillips has been first or second choice the Gatland era, but since moving to Racing Metro two seasons ago he has mainly been a replacement and a characteristically confrontational player did not pose a physical threat against Ireland.
While Phillips lost his starting place to Webb last season, Hibbard was Wales’s first-choice hooker until the third round of the Six Nations this year when he lost his place to Scott Baldwin. It means the three hookers in the squad, Ken Owens and Kristian Dacey, who made his Test debut, have won one fewer cap between them than Hibbard’s 38. With the fitness of the tight-head prop Samson Lee still in doubt and no experienced cover in the position, the sacrifice of a strong scrummager is bold.
“It has been a difficult task reducing the squad and deciding who will meet up again on Monday,” said Gatland, who will be working with a group of 38 that will be cut by seven after the August 29 warm-up against Ireland in Dublin. The omissions of Phillips and Hibbard mean that he has decided his scrum-halves and hookers for the World Cup. “The players left out will be disappointed but it is important to stress that the door is not closed,” he said. “We name our World Cup squad on August 31 and a lot can happen between now and then. Barring injuries in the next few weeks, the international careers of Hook, Phillips and Hibbard look over.
Five other players were dropped from the squad: the prop Nicky Smith and the No 8 Dan Baker played against Ireland, while the second row Rory Thornton, the centre Jack Dixon and the outside-half Rhys Patchell were also players who from the outset were more likely contenders for the 2019 World Cup squad than this year’s.
Gatland has left himself with 21 forwards and 17 backs, still unsure whether the split for the World Cup will be 18-13 or 17-14. The shape of the 38 points to the former with one prop, a second row and a back rower set to be released at the end of the month, while behind Wales have to consider whether to retain all four specialist centres given that they play Fiji five days after meeting England and dropping one of the three outside-halves.
