By Ben Withers
Wales boss Warren Gatland said he would be comfortable with whatever decision Welsh Rugby deemed appropriate amid calls for his head following a record 11th consecutive defeat against Australia.
A 52-20 thrashing at the hands of a Wallaby team improving at a rate of knots, meant Gatland’s team surpassed the 10 defeats on the bounce suffered by Steve Hansen’s Wales in 2002-03.
Australia raced to an early 19-0 lead, and although Wales fought back to trail 19-13 at half-time, Gatland’s men shipped three quick-fire tries in the third quarter, even though centre Sami Keri was off the field at the time with a 20-minute red card for a high tackle on Jac Morgan.
But Gatland was outwardly phlegmatic about his own fate, admitting that he is “comfortable supporting the best decision” for Wales, even if it means he loses his job.
“We weren’t good enough tonight. The performance hurts really,” he said.
“We started off not great, conceded some points. To concede 21 points when we’re a man up is not good enough.”
When asked about conceding with a man advantage, he said: “It’s something that doesn’t normally happen. Maybe we’ve forced things a little bit and overplayed.
“It’s a little hard to put your finger on it. We started really well last week (the game against Fiji), today not so good.”
On his future, Gatland said: “I don’t know. Whatever the best decision for Welsh rugby I am more than comfortable with that. If that means me, I’m comfortable with that.”
When asked if he still has the fight to bring Wales success, he said “Absolutely, I love being involved in the game. I have so many good memories with Wales and I’m incredibly proud with what we’ve achieved, especially the World Cup campaigns.”
He admitted, however: “I’m only human, so I ask myself am I doing the right thing?”
Despite a poor performance, Gatland claimed: “We’ve trained really well this week, and I cannot question the effort and work that the boys have put in. They’ll be disappointed and we can learn from it.”
On Australia’s display, Gatland said: “They mauled well. I thought we had the edge at scrum-time and put them under pressure. They didn’t play a huge amount of rugby. We allowed them some points through soft entries.”
Wales play South Africa next and when asked about whether he thinks he’ll be in charge, he said: “I don’t know. I’m more than comfortable supporting the best decision. It’s about talking to the right people and making the right decisions.”