{"id":290792,"date":"2023-09-13T07:34:26","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T07:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?p=290792"},"modified":"2023-09-13T07:34:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T07:34:26","slug":"warren-gatland-looks-to-freshen-wales-up-after-brutal-win-against-fiji","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/rugby-union\/warren-gatland-looks-to-freshen-wales-up-after-brutal-win-against-fiji\/","title":{"rendered":"Warren Gatland looks to freshen Wales up after brutal win against Fiji"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Warren Gatland looks to freshen Wales up after brutal win against Fiji with Dan Biggar and Liam Williams set to be rested for clash against Portugal&#8230; and Leigh Halfpenny in line for his first Rugby World Cup start in eight years<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wales beat Fiji 32-26 in their World Cup opener on Sunday<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Warren Gatland&#8217;s men face Portugal in Bordeaux on Saturday\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The sight of a young family having seemingly spent the night in a car park next to the Stade Charles-Ehrmann in Nice on Tuesday put the importance of Wales\u2019 World Cup bid into perspective.<\/p>\n<p>As two young girls braided each other\u2019s hair and sheltered from the searing C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur heat, a man and a woman rummaged through bins in search of something to eat.<\/p>\n<p>It was heartbreaking to watch. At the other end of the car park, aspiring motorcycle riders practiced for their test by weaving in and out of cones to hone their skills.<\/p>\n<p>Inside the ground, Warren Gatland\u2019s players did likewise, only without the aid of horsepower.<\/p>\n<p>Wales\u2019 team bus pulled up on the other side of the ground to the car park, the squad filing into the changing room with the majority wearing either flip flops, sliders or Crocs.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367425-0-image-a-1_1694581325931.jpg\" height=\"399\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Wales returned to training on Tuesday ahead of their clash against Portugal on Saturday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367443-0-image-m-3_1694581339552.jpg\" height=\"435\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Warren Gatland has no injury concerns following the 32-26 win over Fiji on Sunday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367441-0-image-a-13_1694581863918.jpg\" height=\"432\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Wales face Portugal on Saturday before taking on Australia in a crucial clash on September 24\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After starting their recovery from a brutal victory over Fiji with a dip in the crystal clear waters of the French Riviera on Monday night, Wales\u2019 focus is now on Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>Different location, same conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Wales have moved from Versailles, to Bordeaux, and now on to Nice. The heat remains, but Wales\u2019 World Cup journey now has momentum behind it after their opening success.<\/p>\n<p>Gatland\u2019s side nearly threw away victory. Had Fiji magician Semi Radradra collected a pass with the clock in the red or had referee Matthew Carley not lost his cards, Wales may well have lost.<\/p>\n<p>But they did not. And, as Dan Biggar said, winning is everything at World Cups.<\/p>\n<p>Wales will, barring the biggest of upsets, beat Portugal with a bonus point on Saturday and consequently move to a perfect 10 points from two games.<\/p>\n<p>It will send them into the crunch Pool C game with Australia in fine fettle.<\/p>\n<p>Wales made a World Cup record of 253 tackles to somehow emerge 32-26 winners in their first game. Gatland is set to make a number of changes for Portugal and understandably so.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367475-0-image-a-4_1694581399105.jpg\" height=\"411\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Wales got their World Cup off to a winning start but could well have lost to Fiji<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367445-0-image-a-6_1694581405627.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The brutal nature of the encounter took its toll of Wales, with Gatland set to rest several players against Portugal this weekend<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367673-0-image-a-8_1694581612856.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Wales made a World Cup record of 253 tackles in the sweltering heat in Bordeaux<\/p>\n<p>The question is, how many?<\/p>\n<p>Fly-half Biggar, full-back Liam Williams and lock Adam Beard all trained separately to the main group at Wales\u2019 Tuesday afternoon session. All three are unlikely to face Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>Gareth Anscombe is poised to start at 10 in place of Biggar with Leigh Halfpenny replacing Williams, although Gatland could opt for Sam Costelow as playmaker.<\/p>\n<p>Dafydd Jenkins will, in all likelihood, step in for Beard in the second row alongside Will Rowlands who made a mammoth 27 of Wales\u2019 total tackles against Fiji without missing one.<\/p>\n<p>Rowlands played down the nature of his achievement in no-nonsense fashion.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367409-0-image-a-9_1694581647492.jpg\" height=\"364\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Dan Biggar trained separately on Tuesday and he&#8217;s likely to be rested against Portugal\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367411-0-image-a-10_1694581651435.jpg\" height=\"439\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Liam Williams also trained separately and is unlikely to feature on Saturday in Nice<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It is a six-day turnaround, so it makes sense to make a few changes with the nature of the game we&#8217;ve just played,\u2019 said Wales assistant coach Jonathan Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It is safe to say there will be changes. We have complete faith in the whole squad.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It will be interesting to see if No 8 Taulupe Faletau faces Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>Faletau missed all three of Wales\u2019 World Cup warm-up games in August with a calf problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He started against Fiji given his status as one of Gatland\u2019s most experienced and high quality players and made it to the 58 minute mark before running out of puff.<\/p>\n<p>Faletau has indicated he wants to face Portugal to improve his match fitness ahead of the Australia game. Eddie Jones\u2019 Wallabies are the big fish Wales want to catch.<\/p>\n<p>Gatland will name his team for Portugal on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367665-0-image-a-7_1694581560619.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Will Rowlands made an astonishing 27 tackles in the six-point win against Fiji, but he played down the nature of achievement in typically understated fashion<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367413-0-image-a-11_1694581711999.jpg\" height=\"386\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Gatland will name his team to face Portugal on Wednesday afternoon<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s good to be back out there. The best thing was the result \u2013 it\u2019s what we wanted. We\u2019re happy with that,\u2019 Faletau said after the Fiji win, before admitting he found the pace of the game difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was tough I won\u2019t lie. It was tough going. I haven\u2019t played much and with game time you hope to get better.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Even after the brutality of the Fiji game, Wales have no serious injury concerns.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We are very happy with the victory. With the nature of the World Cup, we&#8217;ve had 12 weeks to think about the first game,\u2019 Thomas said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Are we satisfied with where we are at? There is always room for improvement in our game. We are certainly not getting ahead of ourselves.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367433-0-image-a-12_1694581722407.jpg\" height=\"430\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Wales assistant coach Jonathan Thomas hinted Wales will reshuffle the team against Portugal as there were &#8216;a number of sore bodies&#8217; in camp<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75367729-0-image-a-14_1694581911910.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Taulupe\u00a0Faletau has indicated he wants to face Portugal to improve his match fitness ahead of the Australia game<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/06\/75368007-0-image-a-15_1694582545578.jpg\" height=\"451\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Leigh Halfpenny could make his first Rugby World Cup start in eight years against Portugal<\/p>\n<p>\u2018There are a number of sore bodies, but there are no injury concerns.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Several hours after Wales\u2019 players had finished training and Thomas, Rowlands and Jenkins had faced the press, the young family were back outside the Stade Charles-Ehrmann.<\/p>\n<p>The area near the ground is one of Nice\u2019s poorest and with lots of high-rise buildings. In a plush city dominated by on the whole a cash-rich society, it is a marked contrast to the status quo.<\/p>\n<p>At a tram stop, one of the young girls was begging for money. It was another reminder of how fortunate the Wales team \u2013 and those following it \u2013 are.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12512095\/Warren-Gatland-Rugby-World-Cup-Wales-Portugal-Dan-Biggar.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Warren Gatland looks to freshen Wales up after brutal win against Fiji with Dan Biggar and Liam Williams set to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Warren Gatland looks to freshen Wales up after brutal win against Fiji - All My Sports News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/rugby-union\/warren-gatland-looks-to-freshen-wales-up-after-brutal-win-against-fiji\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Warren Gatland looks to freshen Wales up after brutal win against Fiji - 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