Bullish Gatland slams De Villiers on ‘mixed messages’

WARREN GATLAND yesterday questioned the mixed messages emerging from the South African camp ahead of Saturday’s opening Test in Bloemfontein.

Springbok head coach Peter de Villiers has been causing confusion by issuing conflicting predictions on what tactics Wales will use after selecting Stephen Jones at fly-half.

Gatland is confused by De Villiers’ changing views and noted his ambition for the world champions to run the Grand Slam winners “off their feet”.

“I can’t quite put my finger on what Peter’s been saying. He’s been saying one thing in the paper one day and another the next,” said Gatland.

“I can’t get a handle on the comments he’s making in terms of what he’s expecting from us.

“We know how we’re going to play against South Africa. What will be interesting is seeing how they play against us.

“I’m looking forward to the fact they want to run us off our feet, play an off-loading game, physically dominate us. And terminate us as well.”

Gatland ridiculed the lazy assumption his preference for Jones ahead of James Hook for the number 10 jersey indicated Wales would use a kicking game.

The Kiwi claimed Llanelli veteran Jones — who made his debut against South Africa a decade ago — is a more rounded player than given credit for.

“I’ve been surprised by some of the comments that have been made about Stephen,” said Wales’ head coach, speaking at a winery outside Cape Town.

“People have said that we’ve picked him to kick the ball. But people who say that haven’t done their homework.

“If they look at the Six Nations they will see that James kicked the ball more times statistically then Stephen when he was on the pitch.

“People have made presumptions about the player without having done enough research into the subject.”