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Danny Care says Wales simply have to get over the winning line this weekend but warned Fiji ‘are the sort of team who can make you look silly.’
Warren Gatland’s men kick-off their autumn international campaign with a banana skin of a clash against the Flying Fijians ahead of bigger tests versus Australia and world champions South Africa.
They go into Sunday’s Principality Stadium clash on the back of a horror nine-match losing streak which has seen Gatland’s side land an unwanted Six Nations Wooden Spoon and alarmingly dip to a record low of 11th in the world rankings.
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Care, capped 101 times by England at scrum-half, delivered his take on Wales as part of our brilliant 48-page Autumn Internationals preview print supplement called Clash of the Titans. You can order your must-have copy here.
In an exclusive column assessing what is in store for the home unions, and the southern hemisphere giants, Care writes: “Wales have to stop the losing sequence. Trouble is you just never know what you’re going to get with Fiji.
“If anyone can make you look silly it’s them. I know that from first hand experience, having been part of the Egland side who lost to Fiji at Twickenham in a World Cup warm-up game last year.
“The Fijians can either be world-beaters on their day – or the sort of side you feel you should comfortably overcome.
“Wales need the right result to give momentum heading into the Wallabies clash”
The Clash of the Titans supplement is available now
That Australia match, Care reckons, will be one of the most important 80 minutes of the entire autumn campaign, matching Ireland versus New Zealand this Friday and England’s Twickenham clash with the Springboks.
“So much is at stake for each team in that one,” writes Care. “The reason I feel that game is so fascinating is that the two teams each badly need a lift and the winners might feel that is their take-off moment, the victory from where they can move forward into a more successful 2025.
“Australia have a deep thinking coach in Joe Schmidt, but they need to prove they can be really competitive on this tour and show they will give the Lions a real run for their money next summer. No-one wants a one-sided Lions tour, we need to build excitement.
“I saw signs of progress during the Rugby Championship, even if results weren’t great. The Wallabies won’t be heading to different parts of the world, spending nine hours on a plane. They’ll be based in the UK for a month and I think spending that extra time together on the training field will enable them to learn more about one another.
“Wales are struggling at the moment. Everyone keeps saying if there is one coach who can guide them out of the slump it’s Warren. But Gats badly needs a win.
“He’s had to throw in a host of youngsters. On the one hand that can be good. A chance to play for Wales, I will show you what I can do.
“On the other hand Gats has lost so much experience from that side and I bet he’d love to have an Alun Wyn Jones or a Dan Biggar there to provide knowhow and help guide these younger players.”
TNT Sports pundit Danny Care -Credit:C1 MEDIA
Alun Wyn and Biggar, of course, were leaders and huge figures in the dressing room and between them won 285 Test caps. However, they are among a core of senior players who have finished, with George North, Justin Tipuric, Ken Owens and Leigh Halfpenny also calling time on their Wales careers amid a huge Gatland rebuild.
Care hopes the young guns Gatland has picked can flourish this autumn, but accepts it is a tall order for so many to be thrown in together in one go in the harsh environment of international rugby.
England lost their own autumn opener to New Zealand in a Twickenham thriller at the weekend and Care expects another humdinger when the Blacks head to Dublin next.
“Friday night, Aviva Stadium, under the lights, sellout crowd – wow, I’m envious of anyone who’s got a ticket for that one,” he writes.
“There’s extra spice because of what happened last time they met in the World Cup quarter-finals. That was a Paris thriller, won 28-24 by New Zealand, one of the greatest Test matches I have seen.
“Johnny Sexton’s book is out, there’s been talk of things that happened during that game, of a fallout between the teams. There won’t be a backward step taken when they meet again and I can’t wait to see that one, too.
“Ireland will be disappointed at not getting beyond the last eight of the World Cup, particularly as they were one of the big favourites and many felt it was their year. But this is what can happen in tight games of rugby when you are playing super-powers like New Zealand and South Africa.
“It only takes one slight switch-off in defence, or one try opportunity you don’t take, and those two have a knack of punishing you. For Ireland it happened at the worst possible time at the World Cup, but professional sport, and in particular international rugby, can be unforgiving at times.
“Andy Farrell will leave his team at the end of the autumn to focus on coaching the Lions versus Australia next summer. It’s unusual he’s still in charge at this stage, normally the Lions coach takes a full year out, but I suspect one of the reasons is because Ireland meet Australia in the final match at the end of the month. Let me have a go at the Wallabies, see what they are like; that sort of approach.”
READ DANNY CARE’S COLUMN IN FULL AS PART OF OUR BUMPER 48-PAGE AUTUMN INTERNATIONALS PREVIEW SPECIAL. ORDER YOUR COPY HERE
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