Gatland after respect

Respect: Gatland is looking to earn the respect of South Africa

On the day Wales arrived in South Africa for their two-Test tour Head Coach Warren Gatland stressed the desire to earn the respect of the world champions.

Having taken Wales from World Cup flops to Grand Slam winners in little over four months, Gatland now has bigger goals to achieve, starting with the first Test in Bloemfontein.

And despite having not won on South African soil before Gatland was not about to let that add any pressure to his squad.

"They will be two very tough games, especially playing in the Highveld," Gatland said.

"As World Champions we will be giving them the respect that they deserve.

"It is a great opportunity for us to be here and to test ourselves against the best team in the world at the moment.

"We will be able to gauge how much progress we have made in the past six months but more importantly it will let us see how much work we have left to do to improve over the next few years."

Far from feeling the pressure Gatland, speaking with a smile on his face, remained very focused on the task ahead.

"There is no pressure on me personally," he added.

"It depends on what kind of pressure you want to create. I think one of the goals for us is to come back from South Africa having earned some respect.

"We have worked really hard over the past few weeks and we have come here with specific aims and it is important for us, going forward, to achieve those."

That hard work has been intensified by the various injury set-backs the squad has had to endure, most notably at scrum-half.

Dwayne Peel and Mike Phillips pulled out before the squad had even been announced, but since then Andy Williams has joined them on the injured list. All that means Gareth Cooper and the uncapped Warren Furry are the only recognised scrum-halves on tour.

Gatland, as is his way, was quick to point out he had faith in his options, even if there are not as he would have preferred.

"I think for us the biggest disruption has been losing both our first choice nines (Mike Phillips and Dwayne Peel)," Gatland added.

"Then on top of that Andy Williams pulled out last week as well so we are without three of the nines we had picked.

"That puts pressure on such a key position, but at the same time it is a great opportunity for the likes of Gareth Cooper and Warren Furry to step up and shine.

"It comes to the stage where we need to develop some depth as well as saying to these guys we have faith in you and giving them a chance."

Despite playing both of their Tests at altitude Wales have opted to base themselves in Cape Town for the week leading up to the first Test next Saturday.

When asked about the reasoning behind that particular decision Gatland revealed it was two-fold.

"Having done a lot of research on the New Zealand teams coming to play in the Super 14 they find the two best days to play at altitude are day one and day eight," he said.

"So by going up the day before it means the first Test is on day one at altitude and the second Test is on day eight.

"Really then we are just following the recommendations of what the All Blacks and Super 14 sides do.

"And then lets not forget Cape Town is a great place to come, especially at the end of a hard season it gives the boys a chance to relax before the Tests."

By Marcus Leach