Hi °C | Lo °C Warren Gatland will take his Wales team to Scotland later this week, admitting: “We are under a lot of pressure.”
Wales, the 2005 and 2008 Six Nations Grand Slam champions, have not won a Test match since last season’s tournament when they beat Italy in Cardiff.
The run of eight games without a victory features three defeats against New Zealand, two against world champions South Africa, one by Australia, the home loss to England last week and a fortunate draw with Fiji.
Not since Gatland's fellow New Zealander Steve Hansen oversaw 10 successive defeats between November 2002 and August 2003, have Wales experienced such a barren run.
And they will arrive at Murrayfield with just three wins under their belt in Edinburgh during the last 20 years.
Gatland, who has a Welsh Rugby Union contract that incorporates the 2015 World Cup, received backing yesterday from WRU group chief executive Roger Lewis.
But Gatland, who will equal Graham Henry as the second-longest serving national coach in Welsh rugby history this weekend — one behind the record 35-Test reign of Alan Davies — has been around long enough to know what is at stake.
He said: “We are in a professional sport, and you've got to realise it is about performing and getting results.
“You’ve got to take the criticism on board.
“At the end of the day, we are ultimately responsible for mistakes. Yes, we are under pressure to perform and get results — that's what professional sport is about.”
