Gatland offers to 'fall on his sword'

REACTION: Warren Gatland offered to resign after Wales finished bottom of the Six Nations for the first time since 2003.

The Welsh coach, Gatland, said the side had reached “rock bottom” after a 21-24 loss to Italy in Cardiff meant they had lost all five of their matches in this tournament and 12 of their past 13 Six Nations encounters in total.

Saturday’s reverse at the Millennium Stadium prompted veteran coach Gatland, in his second spell as Wales boss, to offer his resignation to Welsh Rugby Union Chief Executive Abi Tierney.

The 60-year-old New Zealander is contracted until the 2027 World Cup,

Asked if he wanted to see out his current deal, Gatland, who started a second spell in charge in December 2022, replied: “Yes, absolutely. I’ve made that commitment.

“I just said to Abi in the changing room: ‘If you want me to resign, I’m quite happy to do that’.

“She said: ‘Like hell, that’s the last thing I want, that’s what I’m really afraid of”.

“But I can promise you we’ll go away and review this carefully.

“We’ve already done some review stuff and [we’ll] work on areas that need to improve.”