Warren Gatland says it is vital his side give a performance worthy of the country's support after a turbulent week for Welsh rugby as he stressed their whole focus is on beating Ireland this Saturday.
Heading into the Six Nations, the Welsh Rugby Union has been rocked by allegations of sexism, misogyny, racism and homophobia that has led to the resignation of chief executive Steve Phillips and calls for wholesale changes to the sport's governing body. An independent taskforce is being set up to look into the culture within the WRU.
Given the nature of the claims, the return of Gatland for his first competitive match in charge of Wales since the 2019 World Cup has been understandably overshadowed. While no-one would argue that the importance of a single match outweighs the scale of the allegations made, those within the Wales camp will still be keen to focus solely on this week's Test match.
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Indeed, the move to name his team on Tuesday for the opening fixture against Ireland - two days earlier than scheduled - was seemingly as much a sign of Gatland's desire to shift the agenda back to the on-the-field action as it was confidence in his selection.
"Part of that is so we can just talk about rugby as well," responded Gatland when asked about the early selection. "It’s been quite hard but the important thing is looking forward to playing at home in the stadium and hopefully everyone’s focus in the next couple of days can be on the rugby side of things.
"Last week there was only one topic of discussion and that was understandable. This week the message to players is we have a Test match to focus on. Rugby has been the only talking point and the players have been great in terms of that. It’s been a bit of a challenge, but our whole focus is on Saturday."
Trust in the WRU is arguably at an all-time low thanks to the allegations documented in the past week as well as the financial uncertainty that hangs over the game. In the past, the fortunes of the national side have often been enough to ride out other crises, but few have been as stark as these.
Gatland is aware of the challenge facing his side on Saturday - not just in terms of the rankings-topping Ireland they face, but in earning the backing of the Welsh public.
"We’ve got a lot to do to get some real support from the Welsh public and we’ll go a long way to doing that by giving them a really strong performance and hopefully making the fans proud," he added. "It's important for us that we go out there and give a performance.
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"I'm comfortable with losing if we get beaten by a better side. But what I won't tolerate from the players and what I expect is that when they come off and they look themselves in the mirror, they can say ‘I tried really hard today’ and if those fans can see those players out there giving 100%, then that's all I can ask for as a coach and that's all that I think the fans can expect.
"And the way that these guys have been this week, I am confident that they'll will go out there and demonstrate how much it means for them to put their red jersey on and how much it means for them to play for Wales.
"I think the history of Wales versus Ireland is that what always keeps coming back from the Irish players is that often they comfortably beat Welsh players from a regional point of view with the Irish provinces, but that these same Welsh players turn into different specimens when they put that red shirt on, with what it means to them. That's what we need to demonstrate on Saturday."
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