Warren Godland has admitted Corey Hill should not have been named as captain of Wales’ one-point win over Queensland Reds after the team withdrew from Brisbane for “personal reasons”.
Hill’s election as captain was controversial to some, as in 2021 he was identified as one of several men who vandalized a woman’s home.
The forward was never charged or punished for his role in the incident. On Wednesday, he spoke publicly about it for the first time and expressed his regret.
But on Friday morning, Hill stepped down from his captaincy amid criticism over his role as team leader.
‘I’d like to put my hand up and say I shouldn’t have put him there. It was a rugby decision on my part. It doesn’t help when you have a negative impact. It makes it harder,’ Wales boss Gatland said after his side ended a nine-game losing streak with a 36-35 win.
Wales manager Warren Gatland has admitted Corey Hill should not have been named captain.
Hill’s election as captain was controversial because he was named as one of several men who vandalized a woman’s home in 2021.
Wale ended his side’s nine-game losing streak with a 36-35 win over Queensland Reds.
‘I could have probably denied it by not putting him in that position. I have to put my hand up for that. I probably saw it in rugby refereeing and didn’t think there was anything negative about that refereeing. I probably underestimated it. I thought he was serious on Wednesday.
‘It happened three years ago.
‘The fact is he wasn’t arrested or charged but he put his hands up and said he made a mistake. There are many examples of sportsmen who have done something wrong and come back. How long do you have to wait before people stop throwing things at you?’
Hill has been playing club rugby in Japan since 2021, and this summer’s tour of Australia will be his first international appearance in three years.
The Queensland game was an uncontested Test match but was a much-needed win for Wales, their second of the 2023/24 season and their last of the season alongside the win over the Barbarians.
It was a game that almost ended in defeat when Wales almost blew a 31-14 lead. In the end, they did enough to win.
Hill withdraws from Brisbane game for ‘personal reasons’ just before kick-off
It was a much-needed win for Wales and only their second of the 2023/24 season.
Gatland declined to elaborate further on why Hill withdrew so late.
“Corey came to me and said he was going to have to sit out the game for personal reasons, so I had to respect his decision and what he said,” Gotland said.
With Hill out of commission, experienced scrumhalf Gareth Davies took over as captain, with Daffyd Jenkins joining the starting 15.
‘At least we’ve got the monkey off our backs now. It’s been a tough few months. The good news is we’ve come out of it on the right side,’ Davis said.
A familiar theme characterised the first half of the game at Suncorp Stadium in Wales’ two Test defeats to Australia, with Gatland’s team being as undisciplined as they had been against the Wallabies.
The penalty count was high and Evan Lloyd was shown a yellow card as a result. But Wales’ rolling maul from a plus corner was unstoppable again and Christ Tshiunza scored from that position on the half-time whistle to make it 24-14. Archie Griffin scored Wales’ first goal.
With Hill out of commission, experienced scrum-half Gareth Davies took over as captain.
And wings Regan Grace and Leo Dyer were both on the scoresheet, with Grace playing his first competitive game for rugby union but showing the speed to score from corners.
Dyer overturned Sam Costello’s cross. Queensland’s two first-half tries came from Richie Asiata.
A Tom Jones copycat tried to entertain the Welsh away supporters at half-time and when play resumed Costello had kicked 50-22. Exeter would not have been happy to see their versatile forward suffer an injury on what was effectively a dead rubber.
Asiata completed the treble after Nick Tomkins extended Wales’ lead.
The Reds were adjusting to the game, with some impressive ball movement as they broke through the Welsh defence. And in another brilliant move, winger Mac Grealy ran past to score.
Experienced former Australian white James O’Connor kept a clean sheet from No 10 and converted four of his four attempts to put Wales ahead 31-28.
Gatland’s Wales team were as undisciplined as they had been against the Wallabies.
You felt that trouble was coming for the tourists, and it was proven.
The mighty Reds broke down the defence and prevented Wales from going for another driving lineout try.
There was a pivotal moment after that when the Australians ran across the pitch and played some great rugby.
Grilli finished and O’Connor’s fifth kick put the Reds ahead by four points.
Wales are back, with substitute Mason Grady desperately charging forward to avoid an embarrassing defeat.
But the Reds were awarded a questionable breakdown penalty to relieve the pressure.
The decision was in Queensland’s favour, although the first Australian tackler did not leave the contact area and the second tackler appeared to not be able to support his weight either.
At that time, I thought Wales would lose.
Eventually Wales found space for Kieran Hardy (third from right) to snipe.
But as the clock ticked towards 80, they went through several stages and eventually found space to attack by finding a replacement for Kieran Hardy.
Costello failed to score, but Hardy’s goal helped Wales clinch a narrow victory. It was an entertaining and entertaining game.
Wales’ season thus ended after a 14-month hiatus.
‘We’ve been struggling to get over the line and get the win so I’m just delighted we got the win tonight,’ said Dewi Lake, who led Wales to a 2-0 Test series defeat to Australia and was benched against the Reds after Gatland’s late reshuffle.
‘Thank you to our supporters who have supported us through difficult times. We hope this will be a great driving force for the Fall International and next year. Please join us.’
