Cory Hill withdrew as Wales captain in wake of backlash

Warren Gatland admitted that Cory Hill should not have been made captain for Wales’s final game on tour in Australia, after Hill pulled out of the game against the Queensland Reds for personal reasons.

Hill’s appointment to lead the side was scrutinised earlier this week, given he was previously part of a group of individuals who damaged a woman’s house back in 2021.

Hill was not arrested or charged following the incident but his actions received heavy criticism at the time and again this week after he was named captain, with the second-row addressing his actions and apologising on Wednesday.

However it was revealed before kick-off that Hill had withdrawn from the match for personal reasons after speaking with Gatland. Scrum-half Gareth Davies took over the captaincy and Dafydd Jenkins came into the second row.

Gatland, speaking after Wales’s 36-35 win over the Reds in Brisbane, “put his hand up” that he had “underestimated” the backlash to Hill’s appointment for the fixture.

Gatland: ‘I need to hold my hand up’

“I probably shouldn’t have put him in that position,” Gatland admitted. “What he’s been doing out here in terms of experience, it was a rugby decision that I made. It probably doesn’t help when you do get some negativity thrown at you, it makes things difficult. I probably could have negated that by not selecting him in that position. I need to hold my hand up in terms of that.

“What I can say is that he’s been absolutely brilliant since he’s been out here in terms of his leadership, his experience, how he’s helped and worked with the young players. I probably looked at it from a rugby decision and didn’t appreciate there was going to be some negativity about making that call.”

Gatland also highlighted how other high-profile athletes had come back from “misdemeanours”, asking “how long do you have to wait before people stop throwing things at you?”

He added: “The facts are that he wasn’t arrested, he wasn’t charged, but he’s put his hand up and was genuine about the fact that he’d made a mistake.”

Hill, 32, currently plays for Secom Rugguts in Japan’s third tier and has a further season to go on his contract, having previously won 34 caps for Wales.

Asked if Hill could still feature for Wales building up to the next Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2027, Gatland replied: “It’s probably [a case of] having a chat to him about where he is. He has a one-year contract in Japan and it’s then assessing it from there. He would potentially have to come back to Wales to one of the regions and if that’s the case then he has that experience that he could get back into the fold.”

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