Anticipation is building ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan and Welsh fans across the country will be hoping to go where no other welsh team has gone before. All the way to the final showdown.
And yes, despite loosing twice to a very young Irish side over the past weeks, Wales has been to all 8 World Cups and has managed to make it to the semi final and this we hope is the golden year when we march on as 6 Nation Champions and even ranking 1 in the world for a week!
It will be Gatland’s third tournament in charge of Wales, and his fourth in total (he was in charge of Ireland in 1999) and he feels his current squad is better placed than ever to deliver on their talent.
Since winning the Grand Slam in 2019, Wales winning streak came to an end at the hand of England and since then results have been a little shaky, sparking fears that Gatland’s golden squad peaked a little bit too soon ahead of the biggest tournament of them all. But with three World Cup campaigns already behind him he certainly now knows what it is going to take to break the southern hemisphere stranglehold on the World Cup.
If you’re planning on taking in all the games, take note that they’re pretty much all early kick-offs. If you’re not heading to the Far East, you can start planning your World Cup schedule by taking note of Wales’ fixtures below in the comfort of your living room.
- Wales vs Georgia… City of Toyota Stadium… Monday, September 23… 11.15am BST… (ITV)
- Australia vs Wales… Tokyo Stadium… Sunday, September 29… 8.45am BST… (ITV)
- Wales vs Fiji… Oita Stadium… Wednesday, October 9… 10.45am BST… (ITV)
- Wales vs Uruguay… Kumamoto Stadium… Sunday, October 13… 9.15am BST… (ITV)
If all goes to plan in a Gatastic fashion
- The Quarter-Finals are on October 19-20.
- The Semi-Finals are on October 26-27.
- The Bronze Final is on November 1.
- The Final is on November 2.
Whatever happens at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Welsh rugby is in for a seismic change. After 12 years in charge, Warren Gatland will finally step down as our Head Coach and return to New Zealand. He will go back to his home town of Hamilton with the eternal thanks of everyone connected to rugby in Wales and the entire nation.
