Wayne Pivac is facing vociferous calls to be sacked after a shambolic defeat to Georgia left him on the brink as Wales head coach.
Pivac hit a new low as Wales boss as he presided over the nation's first-ever defeat to the Georgians on one of the darkest days in Welsh rugby. Georgia's historic 13-12 victory proved more than a fair reflection in Cardiff as shambolic Wales were crushed in the scrum and hapless in attack.
Wales held a comfortable 12-3 half-time lead despite their lack of penetration, but Luka Matkava's gutsy high-pressure penalty two minutes from time sealed a famous away win as Pivac's men crumbled after the break.
The low-intensity game descended into a kicking contest as the forlorn Welsh side familiarly ran out of ideas and were crucially annihilated at scrum time, providing their unfancied opponents the platform to seal a famous victory.
Pivac had only made six changes from the team that edged out England's conquerors Argentina in what appeared like a strong team sheet for a contest that should have been one-sided for the hosts.
But this embarrassing result marks the latest humiliating day for Pivac, with eight defeats in his last 11 Tests in charge. And furious fans have seen enough with just 10 months left to go until the 2023 World Cup, as they witnessed another upset in the same year Italy secured a famous Six Nations victory at the Principality Stadium.
More worryingly, Wales face Georgia in the group stages in France and their impassioned opponents will now have no fears at all ahead of their clash in Nantes next October. Pivac is now under huge pressure to keep his job and plenty of Welsh rugby fans on social media have made their mind up on the Kiwi's fate.
"Wayne Pivac and his coaching staff don't deserve a another chance. No plan, no creativity and no desire to win with one year until the World Cup," one frustrated fan claimed.
"Wayne Pivac inherited a side ranked second in the world," journalist Gareth Davies asserted. "Wales have fallen off a cliff under his watch. This year, we’ve lost to Italy and Georgia. At home. That has become our level under him. We’re sleepwalking into crashing out of the RWC in the pool stage. He must go."
"No way Pivac can survive that," another insisted. But while he faces mounting scrutiny, the 60-year-old refused to be drawn onto questions over his position, instead focusing on rectifying the performance against Australia next weekend.
"That’s a question for other people, I would guess," Pivac said when asked if he fears for his future. You’re seeing a lot of results that are going against the formbook and ours was one of those. Where you're going with that question, you probably want to ask someone else.
"As far as I'm concerned, I’ll be here rolling the sleeves up, starting first thing in the morning, like all the other coaches in the group. We'll get together on Sunday night and we’ll formulate the plan for the week.
"We’re here to do a job and we're totally focused on building towards the World Cup. This is a set-back. We’re not hiding away from that. We're not proud of that result. Clearly, we'll have a big working week and see how we go next week."
