Forget about a couple of warm-up losses to England and Ireland this past month; the Welsh are heading to Asia in great shape, mentally as much as physically. Okay, they didn't beat New Zealand in that 14-match winning run from March 2018 to March 2019 which bounced them from No8 in the rankings to No1. Yet they took down South Africa twice, Australia, England, Ireland, and Argentina.
A team that didn't know how to get over the line in big, tight matches suddenly forgot how to lose. For that, they can largely thank Gatland.
"There's a really special place in my heart for Wales," Gatland said after his last home test in charge of Wales, which unfortunately proved to be a 22-17 loss to Ireland after fielding a weakened lineup. "I think we've massively overachieved in the last 12 years. And we're not finished yet."
In World Cups under Gatland, the Welsh reached the semifinals in 2011, where they lost to France after playing more than an hour with 14 men following the contentious sending-off of Sam Warburton for a tip tackle. In 2015, Wales got out of a pool containing Australia and ousted host nation England before losing 23-19 to South Africa in the quarter-finals.
Wales' last game before Gatland took over as coach was a humiliating 38-34 loss to Fiji in Nantes in the 2007 World Cup, which eliminated the Dragons in the pool stage.
So much has changed since then, especially the strength in depth in the squad which should leave Wales fans' confident the team can overcome injuries to No8 Taulupe Faletau and first-five Gareth Anscombe that have ruled them out of the World Cup. Ross Moriarty provides strong cover for Faletau at No8, while Dan Biggar now takes on a huge role at No10.
Wales and Australia are the favourites to advance from Pool D, which also includes Fiji, Georgia and Uruguay.
The mercurial Fijians stand out as the other danger, with the Welsh no doubt wary of a repeat of 2007 but also because Fiji is now in the top 10 of the world rankings and seemingly a more cohesive unit than ahead of previous World Cups.
Wales will have 10 days to prepare for Fiji on October 9, which will be the third pool game for Gatland's squad.
Get through what could be a gruelling pool and Wales will be hardened for the knockout stage, and Gatland's final days at the helm. How fitting if he goes out as the first Wales coach to win the World Cup.
- AP
