Jamie Roberts has hit back at Warren Gatland’s criticism of the comments made by his former players, suggesting that the Grand Slam-winning Wales side would have reached the top of the game without the New Zealander in charge.
Gatland left his role as Wales head coach last month after 14 consecutive defeats, with Wales producing an improved performance under interim head coach Matt Sherratt in their loss to Ireland.
Discussing his departure with Telegraph Sport, Gatland said that the comments from his former players including Roberts had been “tough”. He also said he “felt a huge amount of negativity in the Welsh press… that just kept weighing down on me”.
He added: “I just kept thinking, ‘Where is someone in my corner or someone fighting a little bit for me?’ I look and can say that there’s a number of them that wouldn’t be in the media if they hadn’t played for Wales, or hadn’t played for the Lions, or hadn’t been successful.”
Roberts in response informed The Times that the “very honest environment” he played in under Gatland “works the other way as well”, and said that if his former coach had an issue with him he should “pick up the phone”.
He continued: “I’d never speak badly of Warren, I respect the bloke too much. But I’d like to think that if he did have an issue with anything I said, give us a text. He’s got the number. It’s never personal.
“When I look at the quality of my team-mates. I think they would have made it to the top of the game regardless of who coached them. Cream rises, right? Again, no disrespect to Warren.
“There’s no room for sentiment at the top level and he’d be the first person to tell you that. If he ever had an issue with anything, pick up the phone.”
Roberts, who is on the Welsh Rugby Union board, was given his Wales debut by Gatland in 2008 and won 94 caps while the New Zealander was in charge, with Wales winning two Grand Slams.
Following Wales’s defeat by Fiji in November, he described the current side as “the worst Wales had been in the professional era”.
Discussing how he felt after watching Wales’s performance against Ireland, Roberts said he was “one of the happiest I’ve been”.
Roberts added: “A part of me felt Welsh rugby had rediscovered its soul a little bit. It was really strange because we’d lost a Test match but people felt it was… what’s the word? Not a seminal moment, that’s probably the wrong word to describe it, but that it was certainly a moment in Welsh rugby that could prove a point where we’re starting to climb the mountain again.”
