Gatland future up in the air after Wales suffer 12th consecutive loss

Wales head coach Warren Gatland did not have answers about his future following their 45-12 defeat to South Africa, their 12th consecutive loss.

The Springboks dominated from the off and were cruising 26-0 just before half-time, after Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Elrigh Louw crossed.

Rio Dyer's try before the break ensured Wales did not draw a blank in the first half, but South Africa did not let up as Aphelele Fassi, Gerhard Steenenkamp and Jordan Hendrikse all followed suit.

James Botham's late effort ensured Wales did not suffer their worst-ever home defeat, but they have now gone an entire calendar year without a win for the first time since 1937.

Gatland has come under increasing pressure as the losses pile up, and though his future remains up in the air, he was proud of how his inexperienced side held up against the world champions.

"It's about seeing what the Welsh Rugby Union has to say," he told TNT Sports when asked about his future.

"You don't make a decision straight after a game, it's always tough coming to a press conference straight after a game before you've had time to catch your breath and look at some of the stats and numbers.

"Let's just see what happens over the next few days."

11 – Wales have lost all 11 of their Test matches this year, making them just the 2nd men’s Tier 1 nation to have lost 100% of their games in a calendar year in the professional era, alongside Italy in 2020 (L8) – it is the first time Wales have done so since 1937 (L3). Dejected. pic.twitter.com/TMzicvGyOU

— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) November 23, 2024

On their recent run of form, he added: "We punched massively above our weight for a number of years, and we've been saying that when the dam bursts it's going to take a little bit of time to put things right.

"The dam has burst, but it's about making sure that, collectively, with the regions we work together.

"I think we need to be in better shape in a conditioning point of view. We will work on that with some of the players over the next couple of months, so when they turn up for the Six Nations, they're ready to go from day one."

South Africa have won each of their last three Tests, building on their wins over Scotland and England earlier in the series.

Captain Siya Kolisi was pleased with their ruthlessness in the game but also sympathised with Gatland's situation.

"It's been a really good tour," he told TNT Sports. "It hasn't been perfect, the first two games we weren't happy - happy we won, but there was so much we could have done better.

"The results are important, but it's how you do things, the standards we set for ourselves. We know we can do a little bit better as a group.

"We were where Wales are a couple of years ago.

"The only thing I can say is you just can't stop believing. If you look at their starting backline, one of our guys had more caps than all of them. You have to be realistic about these things."

Elsewhere, Ireland produced their most convincing win of their series, scoring eight tries as they cruised past Fiji 52-17 in Dublin earlier on Saturday.