It has been revealed that head coach Warren Gatland offered resignation to the Welsh Rugby Union chief executive officer Abi Tierney in the aftermath of the loss to Italy that saw Wales take the Six Nations Wooden Spoon.

As the tweet below from Alex Bywater of the Daily Mail explains, the coach felt his side had hit “rock bottom” in losing 24-21 to the Italian, and suffering the ignominy of holding the Wooden Spoon for the first time in 21 years.

In the post-match press conference, Gatland was asked about the future.

On staying on for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, he said: “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 really carefully. We’ve already done some review stuff and (we’ll) work on areas that need to improve.

Wales have lost 12 times in the last 13 games in the Six Nations – a sobering record, and you have to go back to 2003 for the last time Wales lost all five of their matches in the championship.

Gatland returned to the Wales job after previous incumbent Wayne Pivac left the union. During Pivac’s tenure, Wales lost to both Italy and Georgia at the Principality Stadium.

Wales men’s next Test foray will be on tour this summer, in Australia.

What do you make of the news that Warren Gatland offered resignation post defeat to Italy? Let us know at rugbyworldletters@futurenet.com or on social media.

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