Warren Gatland provides update on his future as Wales head coach

Warren Gatland admits that his future as head coach of Wales is out of his hands following their Rugby World Cup exit to Argentina on Saturday.

Wales went into the quarter-final clash as favourites but two late tries saw them fall to defeat to the Pumas, who will face New Zealand or Ireland in the last four.

Following Wales’ exit, Gatland was quizzed about his contract and revealed that it is now ‘up to the Welsh Rugby Union’ if they want to ‘get rid’ of him.

‘There’s a clause but I don’t know exactly what it is,’ Gatland said in his post-match press conference.

‘I want to see this group through but if the WRU [Welsh Rugby Union] want to get rid of me then that is up to them.

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‘It’s slipped away from us but we’ll take learnings. We need to look at how do you improve from this.

‘We played too much and needed to be more conservative. But I’m incredibly proud of the effort everyone has put in. We’ve made really good strides and we need to make sure we continue with that and not go backwards.’

Speaking more generally about Wales’ defeat, Gatland added: ‘We’re incredibly disappointed. Argentina are incredibly tough and physical and stayed in the fight.

‘That game could have gone either way. We were not at our best but still could have won. We got 10-0 up but the change of referee didn’t help. That was a disruption.

‘We gave away soft penalties and allowed them to get the scoreboard ticking over and back into the match.’

Gatland also paid tribute to Wales star Dan Biggar, who is now set to retire from international duty.

‘He’s been a great servant to Welsh rugby, including high and lows,’ Gatland said. ‘For a youngster to come in and mature the way he has has been special.

‘It’s his decision [to retire from international rugby] and we won’t have Gareth Anscombe but we think Sam Costelow will be a bit special as he grows. Dan is so competitive, wants to win and wears his heart on his sleeve. He has brought that to this team.’

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