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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Steffan Thomas

Warren Gatland reveals 'significant split' between his Wales players over strike threat caused tension for England game

Warren Gatland has revealed there was a "significant split" between his Wales players over the decision not to strike against England.

Wales' stars came very close to forfeiting their big Six Nations clash due to looming pay cuts at regional level along with uncertainty surrounding their futures.

In the end the game went ahead with Wales slipping to a 20-10 defeat in Cardiff, and Gatland believes the friction within the squad played a factor in the defeat.

READ MORE: Taulupe Faletau admits it's been hard for Wales players to 'give their all' amid off-field distractions

"On reflection, and I know a couple of people have commented on it in terms of the stuff that was going on off the field, that definitely had an impact," said Gatland.

"There was quite a significant split in the group over which way to go and I think that definitely caused some tension within the group for a couple of weeks.

"If things do get signed and get sorted and we get Welsh rugby back on the right track I think it will be positive for everyone."

Wales struggled to fire any shots against an England side in transition and have not been at the races throughout the entirety of this Six Nations.

Gatland pointed to the Welsh players' body language last time out as evidence the off-field struggles is having a profound effect on their performance levels, but is banking on things changing for the better versus Italy this weekend.

"Time was the healer," he said.

"It was definitely quite fractious there which is understandable because people have different opinions.

"I don't have an issue with that but sometimes that can create tension and on reflection that definitely happened with guys having strong views one way or the other.

"I think things have settled down over the last couple of weeks and probably the best reflection of that was the comments Justin Tipuric made to the group in terms of their body language.

"There were big moments in the England game where there were no celebrations from our players. No slapping backsides or congratulating guys about turnovers.

"That's sort of been the message this week, making sure we celebrate as a group which definitely helps to bring the team together.

"When I look back and saw we weren't doing that against England that's probably a reflection of where we were as a group."

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