Warren Gatland Q&A: There’s people who won’t want to face Wales playing with confidence and momentum, at our most dangerous

Warren Gatland has named his Wales team for this weekend's World Cup quarter-final against Argentina in Marseille. The Wales coach has opted for two opensides, with Gareth Anscombe not fit to be part of the matchday 23.

Here's everything he had to say...

What’s special about knockout rugby?

“I think the first challenge is the pressure you’re under, firstly to make the knockout stages. That’s the biggest hurdle you want to get over. Then, the quarter-final then poses it's own challenges and pressures because you’re either here until the end of the tournament or you’re going home on Monday.

"Definitely as a squad, we’re not ready to go home. It's pressure rugby now in the knockout stages. That's what we've prepared for and all the hard work we've put in. We're really excited for Saturday."

What’s your approach to the pressure this part of the tournament brings?

"You’ve just got to embrace it. You can’t hide away from it. We know within the squad, the preparation that has gone into this World Cup. The hard work we've put in. We’re not surprised where we are, in finishing top of the group.

"We haven't picked up too many injuries which has been a bonus. We think we're in pretty good shape from a physical point of view, but also a mental point of view in terms of our preparation. We’re looking forward to the weekend."

Wales seem to be the favourites and not the underdogs - are you comfortable with that?

"Absolutely. I don’t know where Michael [Cheika] got that from. He's probably trying to take some pressure off himself. If you read or listened to anyone a couple of months ago, there was speculation, people predicting we wouldn’t get out of the group. We embrace that because we can only control the things that we can do.

"We knew what we were doing with the group and if things change, you've got to be comfortable with whatever's been thrown at you. We haven’t spoken about underdogs or favourite tags. We're just going through our own processes and working as hard as we can to make sure the preparation is right for Saturday."

What’s the latest injury update with Gareth Anscombe, Dan Biggar and Liam Williams?

"Liam is fine. He just took quite a severe knock on his knee last weekend. He was up and running on Tuesday, we kept him out of the contact stuff. He took full part in training today. Dan is the same. We had him on the bench last week but we didn't need to use him.

"His pec is a bit sore. Gareth is up and running, fingers crossed if things go well on Saturday, he’s in contention for next week. In terms of the contingency, whether that would have been Leigh Halfpenny who we know defensively and positionally how good he is, we expect Argentina to kick a lot of ball so that was one consideration.

"Or whether we moved Louis [Rees-Zammit] back to full-back and started Rio [Dyer] on the wing. We had options, but we didn’t have to go through that process as we were confident from Tuesday that Liam would be fit for the weekend."

This is Wales’ fourth quarter-final under your stewardship - what have you learned?

"I don’t think the approach has been any different. It's about, as a group of coaches, we don't overcoach this week and give out too much information. How do you shorten up training? The players have done all the hard work.

"There can be a tendency that your training sessions go a bit longer and you try and cover everything off. I try and focus on the other aspect of it. You shorten things up. We purposely had a heavier week last week. The ground we were training at was a little bit heavier. We did more conditioning as we knew we were in the quarter-finals so it was a bit of a top-up week.

"We got through that and beating Georgia, with the plan being to shorten a lot of things up for this week. We wanted it to be sharp, with that intensity to be there. The guys have been excellent this week."

Can you talk us through the Wales back-row you’ve selected?

"It was a really healthy debate with the coaches in terms of which way we went. Did we go with the traditional six who was potentially a bit bigger and with more size? But we felt that the way that Tommy had played, the turnovers and the breakdown, that going to be really competitive on the weekend.

"It was a matter of making that decision and getting our best players on the field. I spoke to Jac and he was very comfortable moving to six. I did say I think it was tough on you. I think you've been the best seven at this tournament so far. We feel we've got a couple of world-class sevens at our disposal. Long-term, it’s not something we want to replicate on too many occasions.

"If we get through this weekend, it might be a different decision made for the semi-final. It's horses for courses. From what we're expecting from Argentina, we've gone with that back-row and we think they'll do a great job for us."

Will it make a difference to how they play?

"They’ll definitely be playing six and seven, so Jac will take on more of a role where Taulupe would have had at lineouts. I see there'll be crossover from a defensive point of view and from scrums. Hopefully not a lot changes. We definitely want to get the ball in Jac’s hands.

"We know how good he has been from a carrying perspective. Defensively he’s been outstanding and his kicking game has been excellent… that was supposed to be a joke so it didn't go down too well!

"We're aware we're down a little bit in size, so with Christ being on the bench, so with Christ (Tshiunza) on the bench, he gives us an extra lineout option. We're very happy with the way he's progressed on the team. Again, Dewi (Lake) on the bench gives us a little more size.

"It’s really tough on Elliot as he’s done nothing wrong. I sat down with him a couple of days ago, he was really disappointed about not being in the 23. He was talking through and I stopped him there. I said the question you should be asking me is 'What the hell have I done wrong to not be in the 23?' because I can't really give you an answer.

"You've not done anything wrong. You've done everything that's been asked of you and he’s incredibly unlucky not to be in the 23. I don’t mind that, though, as it puts pressure on the other players to step up and perform. We're in a healthy place with the squad.

"They've been outstanding to work with. There’s some real harmony in this camp. When they’ve switched on, they've really focused on the rugby aspect, but they've also had some fun and really enjoyed themselves with meetings and presentations. We've had a few laughs and the balance has been really good so far."

What are your thoughts on Argentina?

"They've had some pretty tight contests. The Samoa game, there wasn't really a lot in that game. I thought Samoa played pretty well. Argentina will be disappointed with the way they played against England, given that red card early on and when they reflected back on that, they probably played too much rugby and just thought the red card would take care of itself and potentially force the game.

"Since then they've been much more pragmatic, they're physical, good lineout, maul, drive well, they'll carry hard and they've got some dangerous, exciting backs. In some strange way they bring that South American mentality, they're very passionate, and that's why they've won big games against the top teams in the past in the southern hemisphere.

"They don't give up. They stay in the fight. They're a really tough team to break down and beat. So we've got a huge amount of respect for them as a team and we know it's going to be a big challenge for us."

How much of a physical challenge will they pose?

"We're expecting them to come really hard at us, it'll be physical carrying. I don't think anything changes. The players are well aware of that. We talk about being on the edge mentally and you can't be there at the top of that every single week, so it's how close you can get to it.

"We've had a couple of games already where we feel we've been really on the edge in a positive way and a couple of games where we've been off two or three per cent, so it's how close you can get to that 100 per cent mental peak. I'm expecting that will be right up there from that physical challenge that will come at us."

Do you expect history to be made with an all-northern hemisphere semi-final?

"First it was four northern-hemisphere teams finishing top of their pools, that's never happened before, so that's a real positive for the game. Considering how much the southern hemisphere have dominated World Cups in the past. I can only see that as a real positive for the game.

"I'm not looking too much at some of the other games. I'm watching from a spectator's point of view with interest. We're just focusing on ourselves. We're not looking too far ahead."

Much has been made about the lopsided draw, what are your thoughts as someone on the 'weaker side' still in contention?

"I'd just say to the other teams they should have done better in the last World Cup, that's where the draw came from. It's not our fault this happened. You didn't hear us complaining in 2015 about Fiji, Australia and England and ourselves in the same pool, we didn't complain about that.

"You're dealt a hand and you've just got to deal with that. I agree with the sentiment that the draw may have been done too early, it's been done too early in the past. Whether the people in control of that next time can put the pools together a bit later, that's up to them.

"We can't change what's been done. All I can say, we were in control of what we're doing. We're happy with the progress we've made, considering a lot of people in this room saying we wouldn't get out of our group. We can only play what's in front of us. In saying that, I thought our group was the most even. The way that Portugal went, Georgia are not an easy team to knock over."

How big an achievement is it for George North, being the first Welshman to play in his fourth World Cup quarter-final?

"He has done exceptionally well moving what he was like as a youngster when he was on the wing with his power and pace. We have moved into the midfield. He is a hell of a lot slower than he used to be. No, he is not that slow!

"He is one of the leaders within the group. He has a big input and contribution into the week and not just on the field and definitely off the field. It's a fantastic accolade for him. He has gone through some of the trials that he has in terms of injuries over the years and some of the concussions and stuff and at the moment he is starting to play some good rugby and I think we were pretty conscious in this World Cup we were going to crate a midfield combination that is a little bit more settled and we know how many combination there have been in the last few years.

"This was a big part of that trying to find out about some of the players in the midfield. That's definitely helped this team from an attacking position and made it easier on the back three and guys inside them as well. He is a big part of this squad and I am not sure how long he has left in his career. Whether he makes that decision how long he is going to play or I make that decision we will have to wait and see (jokes). It is a huge accolade."

How much of an achievement would a semi-final be after the turmoil in Welsh rugby last year?

"It would be our third semi-final and then 2015 we were leading South Africa for 75 minutes and conceded at the end. Reflecting on that we would be pretty proud. I have always spoken about how much I have enjoyed the World Cups preparation it is the only time you get to feel like you are a club side in getting that details done and it is definitely feeling like you are having an off season, you feel like you have made a huge amount of progress

"That’s helped us in the past that we've done well in World Cups and we've tended to do pretty well in Six Nations following World Cups as well. It’s going to be different, because we'll have some changes after this World Cup with players not being available to us going forward. After all the challenges during the Six Nations, with the documentary and the potential strikes and the contracts and the money with the Union and regions, as coaches we’d joke about what would happen next. What would be the next thing thrown at us. I definitely think there’s been a line in the sand drawn under that.

"If we can make the semi-final, it would be a huge achievement for this group of players and coaches, who have done a great job. The backroom staff has been outstanding. I know there’s some people and some teams out there who won’t want to face a Wales team when they start playing with confidence and when we start having momentum. That's when we're at our most dangerous. We're starting to look that way at the moment."