Here's your rugby morning headlines for Tuesday, 2 May.
Wales announce new coach amid calls for improvements
Wales have announced that former hooker Huw Bennett will take over from Paul Stridgeon as head of physical performance before the World Cup.
It was revealed after the Six Nations that Stridgeon would be leaving Wales' coaching ticket after eight years.
"Huw Bennett has been appointed for that," said Gatland after naming his World Cup training squad. "Bobby is moving back to France shortly.
SIGN UP: Get the latest Welsh rugby breaking news and interviews via our free daily newsletter
"I probably instigated that a little bit earlier and not after the World Cup. He’s been away from his family for a number of years in terms of travelling backwards and forwards. He’s got a couple of young daughters and a young son who is just two.
"The conversation I had with him was ‘What are you doing here?’ Because if it was me, I’d be doing everything I could to be closer to my family and to support my family. A few days later he came back to me and said he’d been thinking about our conversation, he’d had a chat, and is there any chance I can be released from my contract early?
"I went and spoke to the Union and they gave their blessing for him to be released and to go back to France. We supported that 100 per cent. He’s going to be a big loss in terms of what he’s contributed to Welsh rugby over the years.
"We’ve got someone like Huw who has been No 2 in that position for a long time now and who we feel is going to be brilliant in terms of stepping up with the experience he’s got and the respect of the squad. He’s someone who is going to be different but is going to do a great job."
The change comes as Gatland once again stressed how improving the fitness of his squad will be crucial ahead of the World Cup in France later this year.
"From my point of view I think we were reasonable but not anywhere near as good as we were in the past," he said. "That’s something we pride ourselves on in terms of playing for 80 minutes and not going away, working incredibly hard for each other, and having that desperation.
"You’ve seen that in the past and it’s something I’ll definitely be focusing on. There were a number of times during games where teams had made breaks against us that I felt we didn’t work hard enough to get back and weren’t desperate enough. There were a number of things going on off the field but we’ve got to get back to that.
"We’ve got to build a mental toughness in us again and get back to what we prided ourselves on and what other teams respected us for having. I think the ability in getting these players in early with a larger number of them will hopefully pay significant dividends for us moving forward in terms of getting to the levels of where we want to be as a squad."
Gatland holds off on naming World Cup captain
As well as revealing a new coaching change, Gatland also held off from naming a World Cup captain when selecting the 54-man training squad.
Scarlets hooker Ken Owens led the side during the 2023 Six Nations after Justin Tipuric and Dan Biggar had both captained Wales in 2022 under former coach Wayne Pivac.
Gatland praised the leadership skills of Owens both on and off the pitch, but admitted that he needed to establish himself as first-choice hooker ahead of Ryan Elias, Dewi Lake and Elliot Dee.
"We haven’t selected a captain for the World Cup," said Gatland. "The good thing about that position at the moment is we’ve got a lot of opportunities.
"Three of those players have come back from injury, they haven’t been involved for a while – Dewi Lake, Elliot Dee I think is playing some good rugby at the moment, there’s Ryan Elias as well. There is going to be some real competition there.
"The first thing for Ken is he's got to earn his place and then when we start getting a little bit closer, we’ll start thinking about a World Cup captain. I’m not sure it’s appropriate to be naming one at the moment. I don’t think we need to.
"He did a great job for us in the Six Nations in difficult circumstances. We know how respected he is in Welsh rugby and I’m pretty sure he’s going to fight pretty hard for his place in the first instance."
England star had to move to 'look after family
France-bound Jack Nowell has revealed that looking after his young family was the main reason for his impending move away from Exeter Chiefs.
The England and Lions star is to leave the Gallagher Premiership outfit at the end of the season, with La Rochelle understood to be the destination.
Opening up about the move, Nowell admitted it was heart-wrenching to be leaving Devon, but said he had to put his family first.
“Deciding to leave Chiefs was one of the hardest positions I have ever been in,” Nowell told reporters after Exeter's Champions Cup semi-final defeat to La Rochelle. “But if I am honest, during the Covid times the club decided to look after us and our families and like we are seeing with every Premiership club there comes a time when wage does come into it.
“A lot of the other clubs got hit during Covid and for us as a club we are being hit now. I have got a growing family and I have got to put them first at times. That is what made it so hard to leave Chiefs; how much I love the club, I love the coaches, I love everything about it but I have got to look after my family.
“My family is growing and for me it was my time to take that pay cut. [But] was it the right time for my family [to take a pay cut]? Certainly not.”
Cooper on track for Wallabies' World Cup squad
Australia coach Eddie Jones says that Japan-based fly-half Quade Cooper is on target for the Rugby World Cup.
The 35-year-old could be back in action as soon as this weekend. The fly-half, who is recovering from a ruptured achilles tendon, last month ticked a box to qualify for the upcoming Japan Rugby League One relegation/promotion matches.
With players needing to play in a regular season match to be eligible for the play-offs, Cooper ran onto the field for one minute during Kintetsu Liners' final fixture.
Jones said he visited Cooper in Japan last week and said he was progressing well ahead. He could even turn out in the first of the series on May 7 with Kintetsu facing the Urayasu D-Rocks.
"He's due to play in a couple of weeks ... and everything's on song. He's progressing really nicely," Jones told AAP.
Jones also revealed that centre Samu Kerevi, who ruptured his ACL playing sevens at the Commonwealth Games last year, would also return in May, with his club Suntory Sungoliath set to face Kubota Spears in the semi-finals.
Melbourne Rebels lock Matt Phillips and flanker Rob Leota are also set to return before the end of the Super Rugby Pacific season.
"We've got a number of players coming back, which is really promising," Jones said. "It creates this nice selection pressure that the players who keep improving and the players who keeping showing that they've got an appetite to be the best in the world will get selected."
READ NEXT:
Warren Gatland Q&A: Why I've turned to so many new players
Wales name shock 54-man Rugby World Cup training squad
Welsh rugby season descends into farce as raft of matches forfeited
Wales Women reach new heights after five-try victory over Italy in Six Nations finale
