I was preparing my farewell speech, admits Gatland after Wales reprieve

By Mitch Phillips
OITA, Japan, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Wales coach Warren Gatland
admitted he was preparing his farewell speech as Wales trailed
France with six minutes left in their World Cup quarter-final
but instead he can now work on his semi-final pep-talk after his
team snatched a thrilling victory.
Gatland is stepping down following the World Cup after 12
years in charge and would have been hugely frustrated if his
last game had been a defeat and a somewhat limp performance
against a French team reduced to 14 men for the last 30 minutes.
"I have to say I was starting to think about what I'd be
saying to TV, to you guys," he told a news conference after Ross
Moriarty's converted 74th-dramatic try secured a 20-19 victory.
"You start going through lots of different emotions. I
thought France played exceptionally well. They've made a lot of
progress in five months and I think the best team lost."
The New Zealander said he was relieved to get to halftime at
19-10 down after France had been full of attacking verve in the
first period.
"I thought it was critical when we were down to 14 men and
Romain Ntamack hit the post (with a penalty)," he said.
"If they'd gone to the corner and got some success that could
have been game over. We needed halftime to just consolidate
things, so we could then get some clear messages to the
players."
Gatland said that one message was that they had to score
first, which they did via a Dan Biggar penalty in the 54th
minute, but by then the nature of the game had changed with the
red card for French lock Sebastien Vamihaamahina for elbowing
Aaron Wainwright in the face.
France, though, defended superbly and were still leading
19-13 as the clock ticked down.
"I'm really proud of these players, they never give up, they
just keep fighting and fighting. We didn't play our best tonight
but it's testament to this group of men that we came through,"
added Gatland.
Captain Alun Wyn Jones used all the experience gained from
140 previous tests for Wales and the British Irish Lions to
ensure his team remained calm.
"You do have one eye on the clock but it was a case of
sticking to your processes and we had to keep chipping away," he
said.
"I know it sounds boring but that's what you do, rely on
doing the things we've been training for.
"France defended very well but our game management was good
and we've been to some dark places in preparation for this."
Gatland said that number eight Josh Navidi, who went off
midway through the first half with a hamstring strain, will be
assessed to see whether he has a chance to make next weekend's
semi-final.
But he was hopeful centre Jonathan Davies, who aggravated
his knee injury on Friday and was withdrawn from the team, would
be available.


(Editing by Tony Lawrence)