Warren Gatland hits back at critics over new Wales policy after being accused of ending Rhys Webb's international career

Rhys Webb will be unavailable for Wales from next summer, but Gatland has distanced himself from the regulation change and claims he was unfairly criticised for it

Warren Gatland believes he was unfairly criticised over the Rhys Webb saga (Getty)

Warren Gatland has hit back at the criticism that he received over the change in Wales’ selection policy that will bring a premature end to scrum-half Rhys Webb’s international career and any other player who decides to leave the country with fewer than 60 Test caps.

The Welsh Rugby Union announced a change in the Senior Player Selection Policy [SPSP] to remove ‘Gatland’s Law’ – the ruling that allowed up to four wildcard picks from abroad this season – and replace it with a new 6-cap threshold for any player based outside of Wales.

That means that the likes of George North and Jamie Roberts are eligible for selection – even though they were both left out of Tuesday’s 36-man squad named by Gatland for the autumn internationals due to injury and selection respectively – but Webb will no longer be available when he joins Toulon next summer as he only has 28 caps to his name, with the possibility of winning 11 more caps across next month’s Tests, the Six Nations in 2018 and the end-of-season tour to Argentina the following summer.

With Webb, currently the first-choice scrum-half in the national squad, almost certain to miss the 2019 Rugby World Cup as his Toulon deal runs until 2021, Gatland has faced a backlash over the SPSP change, but he used Tuesday’s squad announcement to hit back at his critics and claim that it was unwarranted to target him for the new ruling that he stresses leaves Welsh rugby in a better position than before.

“I was consulted on the new policy, but I wasn't involved in the process,” Gatland said. "I got pushed out there from a media perspective and it was almost like it was my idea.

“There was a lot of criticism of myself over this and I felt that was unfair.

“The policy we have now is better than the one we had previously, but I feel for Rhys in that he is not going to be available for the next World Cup.”

Gatland also confirmed that he spoke with Webb before the announcement that such a ruling could come into effect, but stressed that he did not know the full details until the WRU ratified the new regulation.